Something About the Rain
by Sunechirei
Summary: Everyone has a past. Everyone has a future. No matter who you are, this is the truth. Riku, Kairi, Sora, Axel, Ellie, Tifa, Cloud, and everyone connected to them are no different.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back :) I promised you guys Something About the Rain, and here it is!**

**Okay, so this is a collection of one shot chapters that revolve around the pasts and futures of the characters from the story, Is there an Elephant in the Room?. Also mine. If you haven't read, Is there and Elephant in the Room?, then don't read this, you will be highly confused. **

**Anyway, I'm having some fun writing this, though I don't know if I'll be able to get you guys a chapter a week. I'll try my best, but who knows *shrugs* It's only going to be 20 chapters long, I'm no longer taking suggestions for it, so don't complain if you suggest something and I don't put it in the story :P**

**Sometimes I'll tell you who the chapter is going to be about, sometimes I won't. But just a warning right now; this story is not fun and games. It's not a comedy love story like Elephant was. It's dark, deep, and deals with a lot of issues that have shaped the characters into what you saw in Elephant. This includes abuse, abandonment, depression, rape, suicide, attempted murder, threatened murder, death, and so on. It's not a happy story. Sure, it has a bittersweet ending which I won't spoil, and there are a lot of adorable moments in the story, but it's not comedy. Each chapter has it's own plot that deals with the characters, but they all fit in together in some way or another. :)**

**Some of the chapters are long, some are short, so deal with what you get :P **

**Well, that's all I have to say other than enjoy, review, and I hope I don't disappoint with Something About the Rain!**

**~Sunechirei**

**Disclaimer: I own no characters but Ellie, and later on Ellie's parents, Hana, Phoe, Seitaro, Hiro, and Kana. You guys know only one of those characters ;P But the plot is mine. All mine. Don't take it O.o**

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><p>"That bitch! Where did she go?"<p>

Bright lights from the lamps above nearly blinded me as soon as I burst out of the dark basement. It was the only light out there, and it wasn't bright at all, but still, it was foreign, and I hated it. I hated the light. Everything about it.

"There she is! Don't let her get away!"

My pounding heartbeat, the pulse in my ears, filled my mind as did my heavy, jagged breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. It took all of my willpower to focus on those actions that normally seem to easy. Maybe it was the gun shots ringing out behind me, or the clicking of my feet hitting the pavement that made me so nervous. Maybe it was the threats being shouted behind me.

Or maybe the fact that I couldn't hear anything but my own breath.

"Get back here you piece of shit!"

That sound reached my ears, breaking through my thoughts.

Only a little bit farther. Then I would be safe. They wouldn't have been able to get me once I made it to the vast alley ways of my own territory. I would be able to lose them, get away, be safe once I was in the boundaries of my home.

But the safety net of tunnel like streets never came. A large hand wrapped around my upper arm, and I let out a yelp as I was dragged back into the body of a man. He was much taller than I, though not any bigger.

Reno.

Fear filled my body. I'd seen what he's done before. I've seen the things he's done to people he doesn't like.

"Why hello there, Princess," he whispered, brushing a hand along my chin. "It's been a while, hasn't it." Before I knew what was happening, a sharp pain dug into my cheek as his nails cut into my skin. I gasped and tried to grab at his wrist to pull it away, but it didn't matter. His hand was removed from my face and I was pushed away.

Or, it was more like I was shoved viciously towards the brick wall closest to me, my head banging against it viciously. I moaned quietly, trying to hide my pathetic whimper of pain. The shock of hitting my head sent a feeling of numbness to the very tip of my feet, and I collapsed, sliding down the wall. I tried to ignore the dull throbbing pain in my back from the scrapes.

I tried to shift, move in some way, but this only succeeded in drawing another whimper from the depth of my throat. But I wanted to stand. I _needed_ to stand. It was the only thing on my mind.

Then, my wish was granted.

Reno's hand wrapped around my collar, and he lifted me off the ground, shoving me once more against the wall. My feet didn't touch the ground.

"Oh little Princess, did you honestly think you could out run me? Me of all people. The one that is feared throughout the city, the one who has never let a victim escape." He laughed maliciously, his breath tickling my ear. "Though, it's a shame I have to kill something as pretty as you."

I squirmed from beneath his body that pressed itself against my own, and tried to reach up and grab his wrist, but the stabbing pain in my arm kept me from doing so. Though I hadn't felt the feeling of suffering before, it now raged through my arm, stinging, stabbing, tearing through my flesh as though my arm were nothing but a piece of fabric. I let out another cry of pain, trying not to choke on the sound.

"What's wrong, Princess? Does it hurt?"

"Damn you!" I managed to hiss. "Damn you to hell!"

His other hand, the one not holding onto my collar, slipped around my throat tickling the cuts and bruises I'd attained not long ago. The grip tightened, like he was going to strangle me, but not too tightly. Chances are, he just wished to scare me. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of doing so.

"Please, Princess. You know as well as I do that I'm too horrible for hell. After all, I did kill that girl without even a hint of remorse."

"And does your wife know about that?" His grip loosened on both my neck, and my collar. Though I wasn't looking directly at him, I knew he was shocked. No one was supposed to know about his sick wife, and young son. No one was supposed to know that he had a family, and that he just chose to ignore them every day. "Does your wife, and your poor little boy, know about what you do while you're away? Or do you lie to them all the time?"

The pressure left, but not for long.

Almost as soon as I looked up to see what Reno was doing, his hand swung around and he backhanded me across the face. My eyes widened as I flew across the alley, landing not far from Reno, on the ground. The entire right side of my body scraped against the ground, cutting open my flesh, ripping my black, leather clothing.

I was too shocked to make a sound.

The taste of blood invaded my tongue, and I tried not to move, hoping the man attacking me would think I passed out, or even died, from that attack. He wasn't fooled, however, and his voice rang out through the alley.

"Princess, you really are something. Feisty, strong, smart, yet at the same time so fragile, so foolish, and so pathetic." I felt his foot dig into my stomach, sending a vicious taste of acid up my throat, and I started coughing. Another kick, more acid, more coughing. I could do nothing to stop him from attacking me like this. Nothing to protect myself.

"Now, now, Reno, don't kill her yet, I wish to speak with her," that familiar, cool voice said, appearing out of nowhere. Or maybe he'd been there the entire time, watching from the shadows as his second in command beat the shit out of me. A painful smile graced my lips as I thought about his malicious tendencies. It was possible he just wanted a show.

That man.

Seifer.

The one who nearly killed me eight years before, when I'd done absolutely nothing. The only crime, if you could call it that, I committed that day was to walk down the back streets in his territory.

If Vince hadn't found me...

"Now then, Miss Princess, how nice to see you here tonight. I wasn't expecting you to actually come and visit me." His voice was silky, smooth, thick, like warm honey dripping off a spoon. If I could have shuddered, I would have. Instead, I pushed myself off the ground, coughing up droplets of blood onto the ground in front of me. My vision slightly blurry, I crawled to my knees, using every ounce of self preservation to keep myself awake. The headache persisting in my skull didn't help with that, willing me to go to sleep, to let the darkness take over.

I didn't let it.

"Don't think too highly of yourself," I growled, managing to get to my feet. Using the wall to support my injured body, I glared up at Seifer and Reno, wondering why the two of them hadn't just taken me out yet. It was then I noticed the two of them weren't alone. Two females, ones I didn't recognize were there as well. Probably young, abused girls Seifer had pulled off the streets.

Pathetic.

"I don't actually think that highly of myself, Miss Princess." The warm honey was gone. "If anything, I'm ashamed of the way I've acted in the past. The fact that I've let you get away with your, your _shenanigans _for so long is insulting to my reputation. If only there were something I could do..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing dangerously at me.

Then, he waved a hand, nodding at the two girls behind him. They slowly moved towards me, their mouths turned up into violent grins of malice. "Say hello to Zack for me," Seifer said with a laugh. "If you survive, anyway." The last I saw of him was his back becoming shrouded by darkness, disappearing into the labyrinth of his home.

"So, this bitch thinks she can just wander 'round our territory and get away with it?" The girl who spoke was farther away from me than the other girl, her head turned back slightly as though she were talking to Reno. I saw him nod, his grin widening. The girl laughed. "I don't think she could even take me."

This sent me into a painful fit of laughter. Every bone in my abdomen ached, but I continued to chuckle at the girl's insolence and foolishness. Only a few could actually fight me and win in the desolate lands of Hallow Bastion. I was known as The Princess of Night, the most dangerous female who fought in the dark abyss that was my home. It was indeed, dark, and desolate, and horrible, but it was still my kingdom.

And I was the Princess.

Not the Queen.

Yet.

"What's wrong, dick hole?" This insult only succeeded in sending me into a more violent fit. She was so stupid.

"You're... just... so... ridiculous!" I tried to keep myself from saying this, but it was like my mouth wasn't listening to reason. There was no way this girl would let me get away with telling her this. Normally, I could care less, but Reno's earlier attacks had taken their toll on me. Even though I was dangerous, she could still easily kill me.

So, I could see the punch coming before it did.

It collided with my cheek, the same one that had been scratched earlier, and I fell to the ground again. I was still laughing, however, trying to ignore the pain, and the footsteps coming towards me. However, when the other females, foot connected with my stomach, I stopped, coughing viciously. More blood.

Then, Reno's hand wrapped around the back of my neck, and somehow, he pulled me up off the ground. I was pulled close to him, like he was going to hug me, but instead, he pressed a knife against my stomach, not digging into my skin, but still, drawing slight amounts of blood.

"You fucking dirty bastard," I hissed, reaching for his wrist.

"There's no such thing as 'dirty' in street fighting, Princess." Then, I was being shoved against a wall. A wave of dizziness crashed over my head, and the knife was removed from my stomach. I heard it clatter, hitting the ground as Reno tossed it away before his voice was at my ear again. "You know that as well as I do."

"Reno," one of the girls whined, "let her go! Seifer said we could do it!" The knife was picked up. I don't know how I knew that, but I did. Reno didn't let me go, however. I began to struggle against him. "It's no use, Princess. You're too weak, and we're too excited for you to get out of this," he muttered to me. "You don't seem to realize how long we've wanted to do this to you. You came here, eight years ago, acting like the best woman in town, but of course, you proved it with your fighting skills. Too bad you got caught today, 'cause you're going to die now."

I tried to talk, but instead I coughed, spitting up blood. The man laughed, then caressed my cheek softly. I let out a slight cry of pain when his fingers trailed the gashes on my skin, and squirmed again. Every bone in my body, broken or not, was screaming at me to get away.

Then he let me go. I fell to the ground, slumping against the wall.

"Do you think I should kill her now? Or should we torture her some more?" A girlish voice asked as a hand grabbed my collar. The hand against my neck was soft. One of the girls. Though the blur of my vision, I could see the knife coming towards me again, and it pressed against my throat.

"Torture. I want this to be fun," the other woman replied, her voice much softer, but more venomous. I shuddered, realizing that Reno wasn't the only malicious one there. "Actually, why don't we get rid of that nickname of hers. She was originally named for her hair, after all."

Princess of Darkness. Named for my long, black hair.

As soon as I realized what was going on, a surge of adrenaline rushed through me and I managed to grab the woman's wrist, twisting it so harshly I heard the bone snap. She screamed and let go of the knife, backing away from me. The knife fell to the ground, hitting my skin, and eventually, landing in between my legs. I felt the blade cut through the flesh of my leg, and I let out a scream.

My hands went immediately to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it seems Reno and the other woman were desperate to kill me now. Reno's hands wrapped around my wrist and he shoved them back against the wall.

"Oh, the Princess is injured," he whispered, and I felt the other woman grab the knife from between my legs. "This is going to be even more fun." I couldn't understand why he said that. Was he mocking me? Was beating up a young woman to the point of death not satisfy him enough? Did he have to say the obvious right into my ear?

Then, a lock of my hair was yanked upward. The pain was nearly unbearable, but I couldn't make a sound as the knife sliced through the long strands of hair. When they fell back against my face, the tips tickled my chin.

"N-No!" I gasped, struggling feebly against Reno, desperate to get away. The fatigue from running, and the loss of blood kept me from doing much damage, however, and the strange woman continued to chop off all of my hair, laughing like a maniac. Reno too, seemed extremely amused as he let my wrists go and moved his hands to my neck. I didn't care. I didn't care at all. The only thing I could think about were the words that had been told to me so long ago.

_"Your hair... it's um... it's very pretty when it's long." _

Even though I would never see him again, I desperately wanted to keep my hair long, in memory of what I had, in memory of my mother, of my father, of _him_.

My conscience slowly slipped away from me. I couldn't think straight, my vision was blurry, my ears were ringing, and I wondered;

_Is this what death feels like?_

"Look at her! Not exactly pretty now!" The woman was laughing at me, I knew that, but I didn't know why. What had I ever done to them? Was it back when I first ran here, to Hallow Bastion from my nice life? Did I offend them? Or was it when I kicked the ass of their top fighter without even trying?

Wet droplets of rain splashed on my face, clearing my head just a little bit.

"Oh shit! Scarlet, we need to get out of here! There's someone coming."

"But she's still alive-"

"Let her go! I won't be caught for murder here."

"Well then just kill-"

"Move!"

I heard running footsteps splash through the puddles that the strong rain had created, but that wasn't all. There were slower steps, calmer, and I braced myself for another attack. When the person who had scared off the attackers, stopped moving, I flinched, knowing that I was going to die now.

A soft hand brushing against my cheek startled me into opening my eyes, and what I saw was shocking. Bright blue eyes, blond hair, wet from the rain, and an expression of pain greeted me. I instantly recognized the man, despite my vision slowly going, and the rain that was pouring down upon the two of us.

My breathing quickened as the man's fingers trailed the cuts on my face, and he caught my gaze, staring at me intensely. The lingering fingers touched the large gash on my face, causing me to cringe in pain. The hand pulled back quickly in shock, and I dearly wished I hadn't done such a thing. I tried to say something, but like before, coughed instead, and more blood came out, causing me to once again realize how much pain I was in.

Once my coughing fit had ended, a hand moved to the back of my head, pulling me away from the wall, then the other one reached under my legs, and I was lifted gently into the air. My vision blurred again, but this time, I saw black spots, and I knew that I wasn't going to last much longer. There was no way I could survive after losing this much blood.

I just wished I could have said goodbye.

* * *

><p>At first I felt nothing. No pain, no sadness, nothing. Then there was heat flooding through my body. A wide back radiating with the heat that brought me so much comfort. Then I realized I was moving. Someone was carrying me, on their back, walking quickly.<p>

I could only think about how nice it felt. How wonderful it was to be with this person. I thought I was dead. I could remember everything that happened before; all the pain that followed the attacks on my body, all of the anger and sadness I'd felt. _Him_ showing up right before I passed. Maybe I was in heaven. He would be there with me.

Then I felt the pain.

You don't feel pain when you're dead.

I cried out suddenly as the dull, throbbing sensations flooded through my body once more, and I gripped the back of the person's coat. They stopped moving when I made the curdled sound. I became aware of the rain dripping down on my face, soaking my clothing, numbing my body to the cold. But not the pain. I desperately wished it would get rid of the pain.

But then the person spoke, and I forgot about everything.

"Are you alright?"

A shiver ran through my body at these words. His soft, deep voice brought back memories of when I was younger, before I hated everything about this world. Back to the days when life was more like a splendid dream, rather than a horrid nightmare.

"I was able to wrap your arm and leg, but I'm not good at that kind of stuff." His voice vibrated through his back and to my chest, bringing about a wave of comfort. At the same time, however, it brought about thoughts I no longer wanted to have. Thoughts about returning, thoughts about the first time he kissed me, about the first time he'd been there when no one else would even think about it, and worst of all, the time when he held me close and told me he loved me.

I opened my eyes finally, looking at the back of his neck.

"Why are you here?" My tone was harsher than I'd intended. I sounded angry, but I wasn't at all. If anything, I was extremely happy, euphoric, almost. But I didn't want him to know that. I didn't want him to know how much I longed to see him, to hear his voice over the past eight years. If he knew, there would be no way I would be able to leave him again.

He started walking again, slower this time, like he didn't want me to feel anymore pain. It was too late for that. My leg throbbed, as did my arm, and my cheek; every part of my body hurt.

Especially my heart.

"I was looking for you," he whispered, bowing his head.

"Why?" My voice cracked.

"I needed to find you. Did you not want to be found?"

He was accusing me of leaving. I knew it. But it made me think. Did I want to be found? Did I want to leave the people I'd grown to love down here? Zack and Aerith were like the parents I'd lost, the others like the siblings I could never have. They had become my family after mine was lost to death. They were my support, my life...

Did I really want to be found?

"I don't know...," I finally answered, voice in a low whisper as I buried my face into his back. "I don't know."

Silence greeted my revelation, and I felt a pang in my heart. He shouldn't have come. I wished desperately that I could go back in time and change what happened tonight so he wouldn't have found me. He didn't need to be here, listening to me hurting him even more than I already had. Eight years ago should have been the last time I brought pain to him. When I graduated from high school. When I kissed him then said goodbye for the last time.

When I left him.

Finally, he answered me. I was expecting him to reject me, to tell me he was going to take me to a hospital and leave, but that's not what he said. He said to me; "Well, I've found you anyway. I've found you, and I'm taking you home with me." He sounded so confident with those words, it made me want to cry. I kept the tears to myself, however. No need to make him worry about me.

"Don't do this, Cloud..."

Why did he have to do this to me, to himself?

He was the one person who didn't try to console me about my parents by talking about them. I lived with his family for two years, from the time I was sixteen, until the day before I graduated from high school. During that time, he never brought up the topic of my parents, but when I would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming, he was the one who came in to comfort me. No one else bothered to help me. They would talk about my parents all the time, like they had been gone for years, rather than months. I had to leave because of that. Yet, despite this, he didn't seem to realize how much him taking me back would hurt.

I couldn't go back there. If he brought me back, I would just run away again. They were too close, Radiant Garden and Hallow Bastion. I would have to go farther next time. Then he wouldn't be able to find me again. Honestly, I didn't know how he found me this time, but he had always been resourceful.

"I don't want to go back there," I whimpered when he said nothing in response. "I can't go back there."

"You're not going back to my parents house. I'm taking you back to live with me." Cloud sounded slightly amused, and my face flushed red. Of course he didn't live with his parents anymore. At the age of twenty-seven, you would think it would be obvious that a person didn't live with his parents anymore. "So please, don't run away again."

I laughed. It hurt, but I laughed. My stomach ached from this, and my chest felt like it was being ripped apart, but I couldn't stop laughing. He sounded pathetic, desperate, and hopeful. Never in my life had I heard him sound in such a way. Even when his brother left, and he apologized to me for doing nothing, he hadn't sounded so strange.

"Why should I stay?" I rasped, clenching my fists tightly in front of his neck. "You probably don't want me around. Not after what I did."

"If I didn't want you around, then why would I have spent all of my free time in the past eight years searching for you?"

From the moment I left, he'd been searching for me. He'd wanted to find me as soon as I was gone. Even though I'd hurt him, even though I'd brought so much hatred to him during the two years I lived with his parents, he wanted to find me. I couldn't understand why. I didn't want to understand why. I didn't want to know why that realization brought so much warmth to my body, and why I felt so loved. All I wanted was to relish in the moment.

"Cloud?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry."

Painful tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision once more. I buried my face in his back, hugging his neck tightly, and cried. It had been so long since I let myself go and sobbed like this, since the night before my high school graduation. He'd been there that time too. He had always been there for me when I cried. It was like he had a radar that could seek me out when I was upset.

I remember then that Cloud put me down. He pulled my arms away from his neck and allowed my feet to touch the ground. Immediately I thought he was going to leave me there. This was why I didn't cry. I didn't want to annoy anyone. They would all leave me then. But he didn't leave. Instead, he turned around and wrapped his arms gently around my sore and tired body, keeping me upright. Even though my legs wanted me to give in, he kept me from falling to the ground, his body warm, comforting, but at the same time, getting me wet.

The rain had begun to let up, not stopping, but getting lighter, and rays of sunlight broke through the clouds above us. Even though my eyes were closed, and I was sobbing, I could tell it was lighter in the dense, desolate streets of Hallow Bastion. This only served to make me cry harder.

How long I was allowing myself to be so emotional was lost to me. Whether it was a few minutes, an hour, or even longer, I couldn't tell at all. I only remember being comforted by Cloud, his hand moving up and down my back gently, and his comforting words being whispered into the top of my head.

When it ended, however, he picked me up again, bridal style. It hurt slightly, yet at the same time, it was one of the best feelings in the world. I couldn't walk. He knew that.

Before I really knew where we were, or could get used to be carried in such a way, Cloud put me down again, this time sitting me on a bench. I looked around, not sure where I was. I'd never seen this place before. It seemed nice.

Suddenly, I became aware of his hand near my face. He stroked my cheek, fingers trailing the cuts lightly. It stung, but I hid my desire to flinch. Slowly, his hand moved up my face and eventually ran themselves through the uneven locks of hair that fell all around my face. I hadn't seen the state my hair was in yet, but from what I could tell, it would have to be cut extremely short. I flushed and looked away from Cloud, ashamed.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered, closing my eyes when his warm hand caressed my cheek again.

"Why do you keep apologizing?" Cloud's voice was a deep whisper, and he pulled my head up to face him. Those blue eyes of his were staring at me intensely, waiting patiently for an answer. I didn't want to answer him. I didn't know if I could.

"Because, I've done nothing but hurt you," I managed to choke out, trying not to let my voice crack. The man scoffed at my reasoning. "And... my hair... it got cut." His before unreadable expression had turned into one of puzzlement. "Before... you said my hair was pretty long... it's short now." My cheeks blossomed with heat when I said this. But he just laughed, wrapping both of his hands around my face, pressing his forehead to mine.

"You're alive. I could care less about how long your hair is." His breath tickled my face. Every nerve in my body lit up.

I guess my body was still reacting to the crying from earlier, and I hiccuped slightly.

"I think we should get you to the hospital now," Cloud said suddenly, moving his head away from mine. "There should be one near here."

My eyes traveled to the bandage on my leg, the one that had become drenched in blood, and felt bile rise in my throat. The red liquid seeping from my leg reminded me of all the pain I experienced before returned, full force. I moaned slightly, bending over, slightly amazed that my mind had been so distracted I didn't even feel the pain. Maybe it was the adrenaline, though.

As soon as I made this noise, Cloud stood, a concerned look crossing his eyes, and he turned around to leave. Somewhere, I knew he was just going to find the hospital, then maybe have someone come get me, but that rational part of me was pushed to the side by the overwhelming fear of being left alone to die. Even though I knew it was going to hurt, I stood up as well and jumped forward, trying to grab his shirt. I managed, barely, as I fell to my knees, leg throbbing.

"Wait...," I muttered to him, as he turned around to face me again. I was looking down at the ground, the wet, muddy ground, and let go of his shirt, feeling embarrassed for reaching out to him like that. "Please, wait... for just a second." Maybe the desperation in my voice caught his attention, or maybe it was the fact that I was sitting on the ground, unable to move that kept Cloud standing there. He didn't lean down, though. I was too afraid to look up at him. "Don't... don't leave me here alone. I don't want to be alone anymore."

I'd experienced him again. I'd tasted what it was like to be with him again, to be the center of his attention again. There was no way I could let it go. It was selfish of me. I hated myself for being so pathetic, but I just couldn't let him leave me.

Every fiber in my being was sick of being alone in this world. Yes, I had my new family, but they couldn't bring me the feelings that Cloud did. Part of me thought I would move on from him after a time, and that I would find someone knew to love. But I couldn't let him go. Every night I dreamed about him. Every day I remembered things about him, both bad and good. Even the times when he would witness the things his brother did to me, and just walked away. The time he hit me when we were kids, which I later found out was to keep me away from Sephiroth.

The first night he stayed with me, during that thunderstorm.

That day when I tried to jump off the bridge, but he stopped me.

Every day since I'd met him, I remembered on a daily basis.

I couldn't live without him again.

"I'm not going to leave you."

His calloused hand was a complete contrast to his smooth voice as he crouched down and pulled my chin up. His striking blue eyes met my own ruby ones, and I could feel myself melt inside. He was so perfect.

"I can't leave you."

He leaned his head down, coming closer to me, but still staying far enough away that I was entranced by his stare.

"I could never leave you."

Closer. He came closer, and I closed my eyes, hoping to hear the words I'd longed for ever since the day I left him. I knew he was smiling at this point. I was too. This was just too perfect, even though I was in so much pain. It was a perfect moment.

"I love you too much, Tifa."

Then, he kissed me.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, no reviews, but I was expecting that. **

**Hm... I feel like going on a rant. But I won't. Because I don't want my readers to be mad at me. But it will show up one of these days. Just you wait. Then I'll probably lose all of my readers (well, the RiSo fans, anyway) but oh well. **

**I'm very passive tonight... hm... I blame the 2 and a half hour test I had to take today.**

**So, enjoy this chapter of SATR. It's about young Axel and Roxas ;P**

**~Sunechirei  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"Why do I have to go?" I whined, kicking the back of Xemnas' seat. "It's just going to be a bunch of boring old people talking about other boring old people things. I should be at home, studying or something."<p>

My "father" turned around, smiling widely, but I could tell it was fake. He always acted this way. "You don't need to study. You memorize everything you read or hear after only witnessing it once. Besides, it's better if you become accustomed to the world of adults right now. You're too smart to really associate with kids your age." Naturally he mentioned the fact that I was smart. It's not like I asked to be this way. I mean, I really just wanted to be normal, but when you're ten and have an I.Q of over 160, that's kinda impossible.

Especially when your "father" pulls you out of school because you get picked on for knowing everything about everything, and the teachers can't stand being around you. I should have been in high school already, but both Saïx and Xemnas said I was too young. So they were letting me go next year. But nine months is a long time to wait to be back in a normal school, so I wasn't very happy about it.

Still, I had to go along with what they wanted. I was smart, smarter than either of them, but they both seemed to know how to handle me immediately. I hated it so much.

"I don't want to go to this party," I eventually muttered, crossing my arms. "I just want to spend Christmas at home with you guys, like a normal kid. I just want to be normal, you know? Not adopted, not a genius, just a regular guy living with my parents."

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you can't exactly be normal," Saïx said calmly from the driver's seat. He was always like that. Emotionless, cold, heartless. I desperately wished that someone else had been the one to adopt me. Sure, these two were nice to me, gave me food, clothes, a place to live, and I guess what you'd call parental love, but living with two gay guys was just weird.

Especially since I hated men.

"Why can't I? Ellie's living a perfectly normal life, and she was adopted!" That wasn't exactly true. The girl had been adopted by Xemnas' brother, Ansem, and though he seemed completely average at first glance, it ended up that he was an obsessive being, trying to teach Ellie everything about the human body. She was only a year older than me. Plus, Ansem was really scary when he was mad. Reminded me slightly of my father.

When I actually thought about it, I got the better end of the deal. Though, I always desperately wished that Ansem had adopted both of us, like he originally wanted to. When I was sitting in the hospital room seven years ago, I could hear him talking to the nurse about how he always wanted a son and daughter.

But no. His brother managed to get the paperwork done first. So I got stuck with these two weirdos, and Ellie as a cousin, rather than a sister. Not that it mattered to either of us. I don't think it mattered to my weird cousin, Demyx, either. He acted like some older brother to the two of us, which was slightly annoying. Sure, he was three years older than me, two year older than Ellie, but he acted so haughty all the time.

Xemnas' words brought me back to the situation at hand, which I wished desperately hadn't. "Ellie isn't a genius," he mused, smiling back at me. "She also didn't have the same past as you did."

"Close enough! And just because I had a no good drunk for a dad doesn't mean I can't live a normal life," I protested, kicking the back of the seat again. "Besides, Ellie does fine, and she saw her parents getting killed!" I always had this argument with my "fathers." I hated it so much, but usually they gave in and gave me whatever I wanted, regardless of how much they tried to keep me from it earlier. They were such suckers most of the time.

"Axel, we aren't going to talk about this tonight. This party is very important and I want you to behave," Saïx said with a sigh, and I realized that for the first time, my antics weren't going to work.

So, I leaned back against the seat, muttering under my breath about how I would rather die than be at the house we were just pulling into. It wasn't a large house, but it also wasn't small. Modest, in a way. Based on the level of windows, I assumed it was only two stories, but it was nice. A good place to live.

"What am I supposed to do all night?" I asked. "You guys wouldn't let me bring anything to do."

Saïx sighed again, and replied as he parked on the street. "I don't know. Have an intelligent conversation with someone. I know you can do that." He sounded slightly amused, but I had a feeling it was just me imagining things. It would be more accurate to say he was irritated with my complaining.

Not really wanting to anger the man anymore, as he got scary when he was mad, I shut my mouth and slid silently out of the car. All of my thoughts rotated around the fact that I was probably going to cause some kind of problem tonight, just to make sure I never got invited back.

In my opinion, the walk to the house was way too short. Before long, I would be inside a annoying house with annoying adults who always asked annoying questions and didn't ever seem to want to listen to what I had to say. Annoying. I had wanted every second of solitude before this to last forever, but apparently time hates me. I can't believe it took a genius to figure out time was relevant. You'd think any old idiot on the streets would at least pass a guess at that idea.

So, after the time of peace was over, and the three of us had entered the building, I tried to disappear off into the corner of the room. The only thing stopping me was Saïx's grip around my thin arm. That guy had gotten too good at predicting what I was going to do.

Just as I was about to yell at him to let me go, a woman's voice interrupted me.

"You two must be Xemnas and Saïx! Welcome."

I looked over at the woman who called out to us, a glare ready on my face. It was someone I'd never met before, but I was determined to remember her face so I could avoid her in the future. She seemed annoying.

Based on the long black hair, I assumed this was Tifa Strife, the hostess. Saïx had met her only once before. I heard him describe her to Xemnas, and one of the only things he mentioned was how long her hair was. A brief smile attached itself to my face as I got a brilliant idea.

I was going to grow my hair out.

"Hello there, Mrs. Strife. It's a pleasure to meet you again," Saïx cooed, reaching out a hand politely. I thought he sounded sadistic right then.

"Same to you." Her greeting to Xemnas was just as annoying and creepy on my "dad's" part, so I ignored the woman, struggling to get away from Saïx. That was, until the ruby eyes became directed at me. "Is this Axel?" Tifa asked, crouching down to my level. That only served to piss me off more. It was like she was making fun of me for being short.

"No duh. Who else would I be? Stupid bitch."

The responses of my "fathers" were immediate. Xemnas gasped and began quietly scolding me, and Saïx grip tightened around my arm as he let out a warning hiss. Tifa, on the other hand, just stared at me with a blank face for a minute, then smiled.

"Aw, aren't you adorable!" Reaching out, she rubbed my head like I was a dog, or something, then straightened back up after I shook her hand off. "I'm glad you two could make it," she addressed my "fathers." "Please, come in. I'll make sure to tell Cloud that you're here." She smiled once more at me, then disappeared into the crowd, slipping through the mass of adults with ease.

I could only stand there, stunned. Most adults would have scolded me, or walked away offended if I said that to them. That woman obviously had something wrong with her.

"Where did you learn that word?" Saïx asked me suddenly. I rolled my eyes and finally managed to yank my arm out of his grasp.

"TV. Obviously." Without waiting for him to reply to what I'd just said, I dashed off into the crowd, glad for once that I was tiny enough to escape around the people's legs without them noticing me. The best way to escape the madness.

"Stupid adults," I muttered to myself. Parties like this were so stupid. I mean, it was basically a bunch of old people hanging around and discussing things about work, which, you know, they talked about every other day of their life. You'd think that on Christmas day people would want to take a break from their normal lives, but no. Adults were too ridiculous to even bother thinking of that notion.

Pissed me off.

I was lucky enough to go unnoticed by all the other party guests in the room as I dashed through the crowd, looking for a place I could escape. The room we were in was pretty large, though not nearly as large as the main room in my uncle Marluxia's house. Man, that guy liked to be flamboyant. I mean, seriously. Everything he owned had to be grander than anything his brothers and sister owned.

He was one of the cool men.

But still, the room was still really big, and it took a while to make it to the back. When I got there, I desperately hoped there would be _something_ for me to do, but unfortunately, there wasn't. My luck ended there. If I had been a teen, I could act antisocial and lean against the back wall without anyone thinking twice about it, but when you're a little kid, you can't do that. Everyone expects you to act all cute and stuff.

I'm not cute.

So, instead of being awkward, I glanced around, wondering how to get to the rest of the house.

If I couldn't find peace here, I'd have to go searching for it.

Eventually I spotted my escape; a small door that seemed to disappear into the wall. I think it was then I first started thinking this house was built strangely.

Immediately I made a beeline for the door, and pushed it open without anyone noticing me leave. A perfect escape for a not so perfect night. Or, I thought that was the case until I crashed into something small and warm. I didn't fall, but whatever it was I crashed into did, and when my eyes adjusted to the dimness of that room, I finally saw what I hit.

A small boy wearing pajamas.

I blinked, not sure what just happened as I stared at the boy. He was sitting on his butt, which was to be expected since I knocked him over, but he didn't seem to be phased by it at all. Instead, two crystal blue eyes were sparkling with excitement, and a goofy grin was spread across his face.

"Hi!" The boy's voice was really high. I guessed that he was about three years old. I turned out to be right. Without even waiting for me to respond, he laughed and said, "My name is Roxas. I'm three!" He held up three fingers, just to make his point.

I didn't know what to do. The only thing I could think of doing was to just stare at the random toddler who'd appeared out of nowhere and had decided he was going to climb to his feet again. I hadn't been aware that the Strifes had a kid. Or that he was so young.

"What's your name?"

"Axel," I blurted out before I really knew what he'd asked me. When my mind caught up with my mouth, I shook my head. "But that doesn't matter. I'm just gonna leave you in this weird back room and go back to the par-"

"No!" Before I could even reach for the door knob, Roxas ran forward and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket, trying to pull me farther into the glim room. I was too surprised by his little outburst to really protest, or pull back. Plus, I didn't want to hurt him.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" I eventually asked, as he pulled me through a kind of doorway with no door. Again, my thoughts went to how weirdly designed this house was.

But the room was actually really nice. I figured it was the den. There were comfy looking couches and chairs placed all around the place, a low lit fire burning in a concrete fire pit, and best of all, a grand piano placed neatly in a corner, just waiting to be played.

I glanced down at Roxas, still not sure where he came from, or why he was dragging me to this place. He looked somewhat cute though, trying to drag me across the room like he was a lot bigger than I was. That thought, of course, sparked me to try and bash my head in, because, you know, it came out of nowhere and didn't make any sense.

But I figured committing suicide in front of a three year old wasn't exactly the best thing a person could do.

"Look, kid, I really should get back to the party. I'm sure my dads are waiting for me to-"

"But I wanna play with you!" Roxas pulled me down to his level. "Mommy says that only nice people will play with me." He leaned closer to me nearly touching his forehead to mine. "Are you a nice person?"

This kid legitimately freaked me out. He acted like he was three, but also didn't act like he was three, so I was really confused. Finally, I sighed and pulled away from him, trying really hard not to hurt him.

"Kid, I get that you want to play with me, but isn't it past your bedtime." I figured that if I reminded this kid what time it was, and that he would get in trouble if he didn't go back to bed, that he would leave me alone. But of course, he did exactly what I didn't want him to do.

Laugh and run farther into the room.

"Hey wait! Kid," I called out, but Roxas ignored me, instead running over to one of the couches and clambering on to it.

"Come! Come!" He cheered, laughing as he patted the couch.

I couldn't believe this was happening. Really, I couldn't. I could imagine almost every scenario in the world. This was not one of those scenarios. This boy was ridiculous. Worse than that.

Yet, I couldn't seem to deny him. So, I walked over to the couch where he was, and sat. As far away from him as I could. He moved closer to me, crawling on top of the cushions, before settling right next to me.

I think I blushed.

"Axel, why is your hair red? Hair isn't red."

What could I say? It was my natural hair color, and this boy was too stupid to realize that there were other hair colors out there other than black and blond, like him and his mom. I'd never seen his dad before, though. I assumed Roxas got his looks from his dad, though. He looked nothing like his mom.

I briefly wondered what Mr. Strife looked like. Then I noticed the small body was gone. Like, completely gone. He wasn't anywhere in the room, which I was grateful for. Finally, the stupid idiotic little kid was gone, and I could actually relax.

With a smile, I slid off the couch and went over to the place I really wanted to go to: the piano.

I sat on the bench, loving how soft it was. The one at my old school, and at the library was wooden, and I hated sitting on it for a long time. I could probably play on this piano for the rest of the night and feel fine.

I pressed down in one of the keys, just to see how it sounded, and felt a shiver go up my spine. It was completely in tune, and had a beautiful, clear sound that I'd only heard in concerts before. I'd never been able to play on such an amazing instrument. I knew then that I had to get my "dads" to get me a piano.

"Play me something!" The high pitched voice startled me, and I nearly slammed my hands down on the piano.

Where the heck had he gone?

"Alright, I'll play you something, but you gotta be quiet, okay?" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Okay!" Then his little hands appeared on the bench next to me, and he began to climb up, struggling, of course. I could only sigh. Well, until the little boy almost fell backwards and hit his head on the piano. I reacted instantly. My hands reached down and I grabbed the boy, pulling him up onto my lap.

He smiled up at me like nothing was wrong. "Play something!"

I couldn't believe this kid.

But him, sitting on my lap, resting his head against my chest... It was like I couldn't stay mad at him. I couldn't care that there was something seriously strange about the boy.

And yet, I was irritated by him.

So I took my frustration out on the piano. I decided in an instant to play a piece I'd begun to write a few years back, when school wasn't going well at all. It was a simple piece that I didn't know how to finish. I glanced down at Roxas as I played. His eyes were closed, and he was smiling, head still resting against my chest.

I guessed that someone in his family played to him a lot. That was rare. Most kids I met refused to listen to music that wasn't hard rock or whatever crappy pop music was out there now. Sure, I listened to it, but I didn't really like it at all. Classical was much better.

Finally, I stopped, reaching the end of everything I'd written. I felt Roxas' face move, and suddenly he was looking up at me with wide blue eyes. I felt my cheeks heat up, for some odd reason, and I knew I had to leave. I had to get out of there.

"That was pretty. Again!"

I wanted to. But I couldn't.

I grabbed Roxas and pushed him off of me, not enough so he would get hurt, but enough so he would fall off the bench a little. He looked up at me, confused, before I slid off the bench and started hurrying away.

"Wait for me!" The little boy called, but I ignored him. "Wait!"

Finally, I stopped and turned towards him. "Go away! You're irritating me!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Yay! Chapter 3 :D Only one review this time (technically), but I'm guessing I lost all my readers once Elephant ended, so I'm not that worried XD**

**Anyway, this chapter was fun and annoying for me to write because I don't like writing Kairi's POV...**

**This chapter takes place _after_ Is there an Elephant in the Room?, so don't be confused :P The chapters don't go in any chronological order.**

**So read, enjoy, review, and there'll be a new chapter next week :)**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p><strong>Kairi<strong>

"Mrs. Takedo, you're married to Mr. Sky, right?" I certainly hadn't been expecting the little third grader to ask me that as I bandaged up his knee. It wasn't the first time that these kids surprised me, which was one of the best things about being an elementary school nurse, but still, this was a first.

Smiling, I finished putting on the bandage and ruffled the young boy's head. "Yes, I'm married to Mr. Sky," I told him. "Why do you ask?"

"Well," the little boy said, "Mr. Sky is my homeroom teacher, and a few of us were wondering if you guys are married, why you don't have the same last name." He cocked his head slightly, waiting for me to answer, but I didn't know how to. Riku had asked me the same question only a few weeks ago when he'd come out to visit.

So instead of giving him an actual answer, I stood up and shook my head. "Don't you think that question isn't one you should be asking your school nurse?" The little boy blushed, and shook his head.

"Sorry, Mrs. Takedo."

"It's alright." Right about then the bell that ended the students' lunch hour rang, which meant the little boy had to leave. I was really grateful. He probably would have asked me again if he didn't have to leave, knowing that little boy. Yes, I loved the kids I worked with daily, but sometimes I found them to be very nosy, and it made me miss working in an actual hospital.

There was one good thing about working in a school, though.

I made my way over to the window and glanced down onto the school's playground, where I spotted the only man I'd ever loved being tackled by a couple of kids who didn't want to go inside for classes. It was impossible not to smile at the scene of Sora dragging along little kids less than half his side, scolding them with a playful look on his face.

I loved being able to see him every day at work.

"You know, Kai," A voice called from the doorway. I didn't have to turn to know that Refia was standing there, arms crossed, and a smirk on her face. That girl had certainly changed over the past six years, when Roxas came to Destiny Island for the first time. She'd become a... well, a rebel, to say the least.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around as well.

"The kids aren't the only one's who've been wondering why you and Sora don't have the same last name."

"I know."

"But you're not going to tell anyone the reason, are you?" Again, I smiled, and shook my head, trying not to laugh at how well Refia knew this conversation would go. It wasn't the first time we'd had it, after all. Even though Sora and I had been married for three years, I felt no need to change my last name, and it bugged Refia. She was always asking me why this was the case, and what issues I had with the last name, "Sky."

There was nothing wrong with it, of course, but I just didn't feel like changing my name. Sora understood. When I told him I wanted to keep my last name he didn't care, saying that he was just glad I was going to marry him.

He was such a hopeless romantic sometimes.

"Kai, I need to talk to you seriously about this," Refia said suddenly. I gave her a confused look, not understanding what she meant by that. Wasn't every conversation we had about my last name serious? If not, why did we have those conversations?

"Refia, I know that you think we need to have a serious conversation, but we don't. There's nothing wrong with me keeping my last name." I waved a hand to show her she needed to leave, but she just sighed and walked farther into my office.

"No, there is something wrong with it," she said, sitting on the chair the little boy had been on only a few minutes ago. Still smirking, she continued, despite my glare. "When a woman gets married and doesn't change her last name, it means she isn't completely committed to the relationship." I had to laugh at that.

I sat down on my chair, and slid over to my desk so my back was facing her. "I fell in love with Sora when I was thirteen, dated him for twelve years, and am still completely infatuated with him three years after we've gotten married." I paused and turned to look at her. "If I'm not committed to this relationship, then no one else is committed to theirs."

This didn't seem to convince Refia.

"That's what all women say. Everything always changes," she explained, leaning back in her chair. I didn't like where this conversation was going. "I mean, just look at Riku. He and his wife broke up a few years ago, right?"

"What happened between Riku and Ellie has nothing to do with the situation with me and Sora," I snapped, irritated. What Ellie did to Riku was unforgivable. I didn't even want to hear her name mentioned, much less while being compared to me and Sora. "There is nothing wrong with my love life, Refia, so stopped acting like there should be!" Without another word, I stood up and grabbed Refia by the arm, yanking her up from the chair. She whined in protest as I shoved her out of my room, and looked like she was going to protest, but I interrupted her.

"Leave! I'm sure you have a ton of papers to grade or something." Then I slammed the door in her face. Stumbling back over to my seat, I leaned over not sure what was going on. I felt flushed, irritated, and a nasty headache was beginning to rear an ugly head.

I decided then that Refia was definitely bad for my health.

* * *

><p>Sora always got off of work later than I did. It was to be expected, of course, as when the school day ended, so did my job, but he still had to grade papers and observe clubs and what not. Still, it was a little frustrating when he didn't come home for three hours after school let out. You know, right when I finished getting dinner ready. It was like he had some kind of sensor for when food was ready to be eaten.<p>

Which is why it was so annoying.

Only, today, he was much later, and a part of me began to become paranoid. I thought about my conversation with Refia earlier, and how Sora always seemed to know things about me that I didn't tell him. If I really wasn't committed to our marriage, like Refia said, would he know? And if he did know this, would that mean he was taking it out on me by not coming home on time?

The headache from earlier returned as I thought about this, and worsened the longer I spent on it.

So I was thankful when the front door opened, and I heard Sora call out, "I'm home!" He did that every day, like he still couldn't believe I was living with him. For some reason, that calmed me down.

"Hey, you're late," I called back to him, picking at my food. I usually waited for him to get home, but I didn't feel like it this time. "I started dinner without you, I hope you don't mind." Something told me I should get up and go greet him, like I normally did. It was rude of me to just yell at him from the table. But I didn't want to move from my spot.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Sora's voice got closer, echoing through the hall. He sounded tired, and slightly irritated. A pang of fear attacked my stomach. He was probably irritated with me, and tired of having to deal with me. "A kid ended up sick during his club activities, and then we found out that a stomach flu is going around the school, so everyone had to stay really late and figure out what to do." He entered the kitchen after saying this, rolling his eyes and loosening his tie.

I couldn't help but smile, feeling all my paranoia leaving me. He always looked so cute dressed up like that. I still wasn't used to him having to dress up nicely, after working in Cloud's office for so long. Sora didn't have to dress up with his job, so I got used to seeing him in street clothes every day.

It was a nice change to see him have to wear a suit and tie.

Still, even though I was no longer thinking about how horrible of a wife I was, I didn't say anything else.

"Sorry I didn't call to tell you," Sora said pulling the chair next to me out, then leaning down to peck me on the lips. "I was about to, but then my phone went dead, and you know how Wakka can be about personal phone calls on a school phone."

"It's fine," I finally said, smiling. "I figured something at school came up," a complete lie, "so it's not that big of a deal." I paused for a moment, watching Sora serve himself some food. "Why wasn't I called in though. I am the school nurse. This seems to be something that I would have to deal with." For some reason, this caused Sora to laugh.

"Well, I mentioned this to Wakka, and he was about to call you, but Refia wouldn't let him. She said something about you acting funny earlier and probably needing rest." At this, he turned to look at me again, blue eyes watching my every move. I flushed, not sure why he was doing that, and began to pick at my dinner again. "You do seem a little tired. Do you want me to clean up tonight?"

Immediately I shook my head.

"No. I'm fine. Refia just said something that made me mad," I told him, hoping he wouldn't press the issue. I glanced back over at him and saw that he clearly didn't believe that was the case. "I'm fine." This time I said it with more confidence.

This seemed to persuade him, as he started eating. I, on the other hand, had lost my appetite. So instead I just waited while Sora ate. He asked me why I wasn't eating a few times, and if I really was feeling okay, and I told him to shut up quite a few times. Well, a nicer version of that, but I certainly thought those words many times.

Finally, when I got sick of being asked questions, I stood up and grabbed my plate, forcing a smile on my face.

"Bring your plate to the sink when you're done," I said, trying to calm my voice. This time, it was Sora who didn't speak as I slowly cleared the table. In fact, it wasn't until I was almost done cleaning up everything, and he brought over his plate that he actually said something else.

"I heard from Riku today," he said, handing me the plate.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, apparently Axel's caught a cold and Roxas is freaking out about it." Sora laughed. "He said he called because he needed someone who had a little bit of sanity left to talk to." Even though Sora knew I wouldn't like him doing it, he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, so my back rested against his chest.

"If he wanted someone sane to talk to, why did he call you?" I teased. I felt Sora shrug.

"I don't know. I was about to ask him that when my phone died." Then he let me go, leaving my back cold. I sighed and began to wash the rest of the dishes in the sink, wondering how the three guys back at Radiant Garden were doing. I didn't believe that Axel caught a cold, as he'd never been sick the entire time I knew him. Roxas was probably worried over nothing, and I debating calling him for a moment.

But then my thoughts turned to Ellie, and then back to Refia and my conversation, and I felt sick to my stomach again.

It wasn't a good time to call Roxas.

"Hey Kai!" Sora was in the kitchen again. I glanced back at him to show I was listening. "Before Riku went on a rant about how Axel was sick and Roxas was overreacting, he asked me if we wanted to go out and visit him for a little bit, see how everyone is. What do you think?"

He asked me a specific question that I should have answered, but for some reason, just thinking about going back to visit Radiant Garden made me feel like asking a question in return. One I didn't think I'd ask.

"Sora, does it bug you that I didn't take your last name?" I didn't turn around. Sora's reaction would have given me an immediate answer. Like Roxas, Sora was easy to read, like an open book.

"That's a really random question," Sora replied after a moment of stunned silence. "Where did it come from?"

I didn't want to tell him that the conversation with Refia had caused me to be completely paranoid about the whole situation.

"Please just answer me." This was it. Either it bugged Sora, and I was horribly screwed, or he didn't care and I had been right about Refia being an idiot. My eyes slid closed in anticipation, and my hand squeezed the sponge so tightly it began to hurt.

"Of course it doesn't bother me. Why would you think-"

"Don't lie to me!" I screamed, pressing down on the plate I was cleaning. The only sound that could be heard was the crack of the plate as it broke under the pressure. For a moment I didn't move. Pain welled in my hands, and eventually my eyes slid open, fear flooding through me. I didn't know where that came from.

Slowly, I withdrew my hands from the soapy water and glanced down at them, surprised to see blood dripping from the cuts present on my hand. A wave of nausea rushed into my stomach. Then I felt Sora's hands on my shoulders, and I let him turn me around, though I didn't make eye contact. I couldn't take my eyes off my bloody hands, even when Sora reached down and took them in his own hands.

Neither of us spoke as he reached around me and turned on the water, then pulled my hands under the cool liquid. I closed my eyes at the contact, grateful that the soap in the cuts was being rinsed out.

But I figured that Sora probably hated me now. He was only doing this because he was nice to everyone. I never got mad at him. I'd never yelled at him before. Just as he'd never yelled at me.

When the water stopped rushing down my hands, I finally forced myself to glance up at Sora, expecting hate and anger to fill his eyes. Instead, I was greeted by concern.

"Kairi," he whispered, before leaning his forehead against mine. I flinched at the contact.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why-"

"You're a little warm. We should get your hands bandaged, then you need to go to bed," he told me calmly, pulling away.

"I'm sorry-" I started to apologize again, but the nausea got a hold of me, and I pulled away from Sora as quickly as I could running to the bathroom. I barely made it in time, before puking out my dinner in the toilet.

Tears were running down my face at this point. I was so confused, so lost, so upset.

When Sora's hands rested on my back was when I realized he'd followed me. I began apologizing again.

"I don't know what's going on. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm-"

"I think you should go see the doctor tomorrow," Sora interrupted, pulling me up to face him. "I'll go with you, alright?"

There was fear in his voice. He was just as confused and worried as I was.

For some reason, that made me feel better.

* * *

><p><strong>Sora<strong>

Kairi's actions the night before had scared the living shit out of me. I mean, yeah, I've seen her lose her temper before, and Riku _still_ complains about the time she slapped him, but those times had been expected. This time... well, it was like she wasn't in control of her own body. Like something had possessed her.

So when she acted completely normal the next day, told me that she wanted to go to the doctors alone, and that I should go to work, I obviously didn't want to comply.

I mean, how could she expect me to just leave her alone after not only screaming at me, but then being so upset that she broke a plate and cut up her hands? Then of course there was the fact that she had thrown up, but I didn't think that was as important as the little mental freak out she had.

Obviously she was insane.

Still. She kicked me out of the house and said she didn't want to see my face until after work hours were over.

She seemed determined, calm, like she knew what was going on, but I didn't get to ask her what that was, unfortunately.

So I did the only logical thing.

Call Riku.

It was chilly out as I walked to work, waiting patiently for Riku to pick up his phone, a rarity for Destiny Island. Sure, it was the middle of December, and I was pretty sure the weather was a hell of a lot worse over in Radiant Garden, but still, I didn't like it. I never did like the cold. The entire time we lived in that city, I complained about it to Kairi.

Anyway, back to the phone. He picked up, surprisingly, after only two rings. A new record for the lazy guy.

_"What Sora?"_ He really didn't sound happy to hear from me. I didn't care. I needed to talk to him.

"Well, my phone died on me yesterday while I was talking to you, so I figured it would be best to call back," I told him cheerfully. "Besides, I have an issue and I thought you might be able to help me with it."

_"Oh, so your phone died. I thought you just hung up on me,"_ was Riku's reply. He sounded really sarcastic.

"Why would I hang up on you like that? Wait, no, never mind, I need your help with something-"

_"Too bad. I'm busy. Figure it out on your own." _

If I hadn't been in school grounds at that point, I probably would have started cussing Riku out. Sure, he was a good friend, but that was ridiculous of him to say, and it was really bugging me. But, since any second a little kid could come run out of nowhere, I decided it wasn't the best idea to start yelling at him.

Instead, I said, "You know you've become a real jerk since Ellie-"

_"Shut up Sora, what do you want?"_ He definitely wasn't happy with me. But really, pushing his buttons was the only way to make that idiot get out of his own head for a bit and help someone else. He used to be okay at it. But recently he's just been extremely selfish. Roxas agreed with me on this. Though, Roxas always thought Riku was a selfish bastard, so that wasn't actually saying much.

"Something's wrong with Kairi. I was wondering if you knew what it was."

_"And how am I supposed to know that? I haven't talked to her in a few days, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with her then."_

"Well, if you'd let me tell you-"

_"Sorry Sora, I actually do have to go. If Kairi's acting weird, I suggest you just talk to her and see what happens."_

Then he hung up on me. I decided that he wasn't worth asking advice from anymore, as the piece he'd given me was completely pointless. Kairi and I had spent an hour just talking last night, and she didn't even seem to know what was wrong with her.

With a sigh, I resigned and slipped my phone back in my pocket, hoping that maybe Refia would know what was going on.

* * *

><p>"What's this? Mr. Sora Sky is coming to ask little ol' <em>me<em> for help?" I didn't like how Refia had changed over the years. She was more annoying now. Much more annoying. I always tried to avoid her, but it was really hard when she was Kairi's friend, and always liked to hang around our house after work. And this time, I really needed to figure out what she said that angered Kairi so much.

"Yes, Refia, I'm coming to you for help. Because you're the cause of the problem," I said, not really caring that Refia would complain to Kairi about this, and Kairi would scold me.

"I'm the problem? Problem of what?"

"Kairi," I told her. "You said something to Kairi yesterday, and she started acting weird because of it." I thought about what I was going to say next, just watching as Refia's face fell a little bit. Something Refia said that bugged Kairi... I couldn't quite figure out what it was. Or, I couldn't, until I saw her glance down at my wedding ring, and for some reason it just clicked. "You ask Kairi why she didn't take my last name, didn't you?"

That was one topic Kairi hated talking about. There were a few others, like Naminé's suicide, but she always felt so insecure about her last name. The fact that Refia called it out to her...

"It wasn't my fault," Refia protested, looking embarrassed. "A little kid she was helping asked her first, and I just told her that a lot of people had been wondering that and-"

"Why would you do that?" I yelled. "Are you stupid?" I was kinda surprised at my own anger, as I usually tried not to get really mad, especially not a girls, because it just felt wrong, but this was definitely worth breaking that rule of mine. Refia had been an idiot.

"No, I'm not stupid, Sora. I just wanted to tell her the truth, and make sure she was happy being with you."

That not only angered me more, but also made me feel pathetic. "What else did you say to her?"

Refia did not look happy when I asked her this. Not happy at all. I could tell that she was beginning to regret the conversation she had. "I told her that when a woman doesn't take her husband's last name, it means that she's not completely committed to her marriage."

That was the last straw with me. "Refia you fucking idiot! Kairi already feels like she's doing something wrong. When she told me she wanted to keep her last name when we got married, she looked like she was about to cry, like I was going to dump her or something!" There was no end to my fury. The last time I'd been this angry was when Riku and I got in the fight a few years back about his weirdness.

That whole agenda still freaked me out a bit.

"O-Oh," Refia said, looking away.

"Yeah, 'oh,'" I snapped, before walking away. "Think before you speak next time." And I walked away, leaving her completely speechless. I had to go to my class, with a calm face, but that was going to be difficult. Yeah, they were only third graders, the oldest being ten, but they were smart. If I showed any signs of anger, they would pick up on it immediately.

Stupid Refia, making me mad like this.

* * *

><p>Eventually lunch time rolled around. I was convinced that none of my students realized how angry I had been when I walked into class, though they did notice something was wrong. None of them commented on it, thankfully, but I figured I should call Kairi and try and explain how stupid Refia was, and that she should ignore it.<p>

That would calm me down.

Only, she didn't answer the phone.

And I didn't have any more free time to call her.

I began to freak as I left her a voice mail that we needed to talk about something. I highly doubted she was still at the hospital, as her appointment was supposed to have taken place two or three hours ago. She refused to tell me the exact time so I wouldn't ditch work and show up. Which I definitely would have done.

"Yo! Sora man, you and I need to hav' a talk," I heard Wakka call out to me suddenly. Flinching, I turned around and laughed nervously, not exactly wanting to talk to the headmaster of the school. Yeah, he and I were childhood friends, but he was still my boss. It kinda reminded me of working for Axel and Roxas, though I technically worked for Cloud. You could get away with some shit, but too much and you were fired, and your friendship could be lost.

Plus, when he said that you needed to have a talk with him, that usually didn't mean it was going to be good.

"Um... can't it be later?" I asked, putting on a fake grin. "I got about thirty students in my classroom waiting for me to teach them about basic science, so..."

"Marcus is already takin' care of it," Wakka interrupted.

"Marcus? But he-"

"Come on man. I need to talk to ya about Kairi." Yeah, that caught my attention quickly. So I followed him silently to his office, desperately wishing that this wasn't anything bad, and that I could go replace the creep that was Marcus soon. Yeah, he was a nice guy with good intentions, but he always scared the younger kids. Which was why he didn't teach any class under fourth grade. Third grade is below fourth grade.

Clearly this wasn't going to end well.

"Um... is something wrong?" I managed to ask when we got closer to his office, where no students could wander around and hear what we were saying.

"Nah, not really," was Wakka's reply. "And no, I don't want her ta be transferred, if that was what you were wonderin'." I breathed a sigh of relief. Kairi was only working in the school because the hospital placed her here. If Wakka said he wanted a new school nurse, she'd be put back in the hospital. I liked working with Kairi. Always had. And we worked well together. We were even better at keeping our, "work and home lives separate," than Ellie and Riku had been.

Of course, I was better than Riku at focusing on only my work. One of the _only_ things I did better than him. I meant to keep it that way.

"Then why-"

"Well, I got a call from her a little while ago, tellin' me that she won't be in for work for a couple of days 'cuz of illness," he explained, opening the door to his office.

"What illness?"

"I was hoping you would know. She wouldn't tell me, man."

I was uneasy before. Now I was just plain old worried. "What do you mean she wouldn't tell you? Did she say anything else? Is it serious? What's going on?" My hand went to my pocket to take out my phone, but Wakka told me to stop.

"She's fine, man. She sounded fine. I was just wonderin' if ya knew anythin' about it so you could tell me why she needs to have a talk with me when she gets back later this week." For a minute nothing was said. Absolute silence fell over the two of us as I thought about what he just said. That's right, I was quiet. Me, of all people.

Finally, I said, "Would you mind if I went home early today?" When Wakka said nothing, I sighed and continued. "I mean, I'll stay until the school day is over, but after the last bell can I leave? I'll do over time, or something to make up for it, but right now I really need to talk to Kairi."

"Only this once."

Thankful, I nodded and turned to leave, wondering what could be going on. My mind was reeling as I walked back to my classroom. Only a few days ago, absolutely nothing was wrong in my life other than a few issues with some students. I'd thought Kairi and I were really happy, but now there was something going on with Kairi. I desperately wanted to call her and make sure everything was alright.

She would definitely get mad at me if I did that.

When I finally reached my classroom, I could hear Marcus talking to the students in that strange, cackly voice of his. No one else was talking, which was abnormal. Knowing for sure that my students were scared, I shook my head and opened the door, interrupting Marcus.

The kids cheered when they saw me.

* * *

><p>When I got home, I heard Kairi shuffling around in the kitchen. I couldn't figure out why she was in there, and not sleeping, if she was ill. So, as soon as I got my shoes off, I nearly ran into the kitchen to see what she was doing.<p>

She was wearing her regular clothing, rather than something she could sleep in, and was boiling water, probably for tea. Almost immediately after I saw her, she seemed to hear me just standing there, and turned around, surprised.

"Sora? What are you doing home so early?" She asked, walking over to me. When she got close enough, one of my hands reached up and brushed against her cheek, pushing back some of her hair. Her skin was warm to the touch, and paler than usual.

"Wakka told me that you were taking the next couple of days off, and you needed to talk to him about something. I got worried and asked if I could go home early today," I explained softly. "They didn't need me there anyway, and honestly, you're more important to me than my work is right now." I paused, trying to gauge how angry Kairi was going to be. But she didn't get mad at me at all. Instead, she smiled.

"You didn't need to do that. I'm fine. Just a little sick, but it's not something that a lot of other people haven't gone through."

I sighed, completely relieved. Part of my brain was convinced Kairi was going to die, or something along those lines. "Alright, that's good," I said, pulling Kairi into a hug.

"Yeah..." Kairi sounded unsure about something. I pushed it to the back of my mind, however, as I did actually need to talk to Kairi about something else. So I pulled away from her, and asked;

"Did you get my message from earlier?"

She shook her head. "No. I didn't even know you'd called. I turned my phone off after talking to Wakka, as I needed to... rest." The odd pause in there confused me for a second. Was there something else she needed to do? And if she had been resting, why was she still in street clothes, when it would be easier to just wear pajamas and sleep. That's what I would have done.

"O-okay. Well, I really need to talk to you about something-" All color drained from her face, and her blue eyes widened fearfully. Not the reaction I was expecting. When I felt her body fall a little, I grabbed her under her arms and pulled her up again, saying, "Okay, you should probably sit down before you faint."

I supported Kairi to the kitchen table, and sat her down in the closest chair to me. She avoided all eye contact with me, though, which was worrying. Did she think I was going to say something horrible to her?

"You don't have to be scared. I'm not going to say something bad," I said, trying to reassure her. She still looked like death was on our doorstep. "It's about what Refia told you, about your last name."

"I don't want to talk about that," Kairi snapped, looking away from me. "It-"

"-Doesn't matter to me," I interrupted. "I really don't care what your last name is, Kairi. I don't even know why _you_ think it's such a big deal. It shouldn't have to be. I love you, you love me, that's all that matters." I paused for a minute, thinking about what else I could say.

"Why doesn't it bother you?" Kairi asked, voice quiet. "Don't you think that I'm not committed to you?"

I honestly didn't think that. I had no reason to think that. "Look, Kai, if you aren't committed, then yeah, that would be annoying, but I waited a long time for you to be with me. Seven years for you to go out with me. Eight years to get you to move in with me, and I don't even remember when I decided I wanted to marry you. I can wait. Alright?"

When Kairi started crying, I reached out and wiped one of the tears away. Then I leaned forward and kissed her.

"Kairi, nothing that happens is going to change the way I feel about you, okay? I'll always love you." I hated having to be romantic and mushy, and talk about how I really felt. I was more of an action guy, than a talker. But Kairi usually misunderstood my actions. So this was really the only way I could get this across to her.

"Thanks Sora," she said quietly. "I've been acting like an idiot, and I'm sorry about that-"

"Hey, it's Refia's fault." I grinned as Kairi laughed. "So, I think you should go to bed now. You look like you're going to pass out." I stood up, pulling her up with me, and began to lead her towards our bedroom. She was smiling a lot, and the color was coming back to her face a little bit, which made me feel better.

I thought everything was back to normal.

Until we reached the room.

"Sora, I have something I need to tell you," Kairi said suddenly when I moved to the bed to pull back the blankets. This couldn't be good. So, I shook my head.

"Do you think you can tell me tomorrow? Right now I really think you should get some sleep." She looked as though she were pondering this for a little bit, standing only a few feet away from me. "Kairi?"

"I'm actually not really tired right now," she said slowly, taking a step towards me. I had no idea what was going on, especially not when she placed her hands on my chest and shoved me down on the bed. I hit the mattress with a grunt, and tried to sit up, but failed miserably to do so, as Kairi climbed on top of me and pushed me down again. "So I don't want to sleep," she whispered, before leaning down and kissing me.

There was no deny that I was shocked. Especially as my tie came loose and Kairi began to unbutton my shirt. I kept trying to push her away and ask what she was doing, but she refused to let me talk, until finally I gave up being gentle and grabbed her shoulders, flipping her so she was on her back.

"Kairi! What the heck is going on?" I asked, trying to catch my breath. Kairi's confused look made no sense to me.

"What? Am I not allowed to want to have sex with my husband?" It was like she was possessed, or something. "Is it wrong to have sex with the person you love?" Okay, that embarrassed me, and I looked away.

"Well no, but you're sick and-"

Soft hands reached up and grabbed my head, turning it so I was facing her again, before she pulled me down and kissed me.

"Trust me, Sora. What I have, you can't get."

* * *

><p>It's Kairi's fault I was running late. She was the one who didn't want to let me get out of bed, and the one who kept saying I should stay home, and that we needed to talk about something. But I really needed to go to work. I'd left early yesterday, so I needed to go in early and make sure that I had everything finished that I needed for today.<p>

I tried explaining this to Kairi. She wasn't really listening to me.

Or, at first she wasn't. Then it was like she snapped out of her weird possessed state, and said that we needed to talk when I got home, it was important, and I should go to work now.

Then her views changed again, and as I got ready to leave, she walked into the kitchen, wrapped in her bathrobe, a calm look on her face.

"Sora...," she called out. "I think I should tell you now-"

"I want to hear what you have to say," I said, interrupting her, "But I also don't want to lose my job." I shrugged. "Besides, why didn't you tell me earlier? We've both been up for a couple of hours, so it would have been a great time to tell me."

"It's something we need to talk about for a while, though." I heard the sliding of the kitchen chair and I could imagine Kairi sitting in it.

"Then, can you tell me when I get home? Besides, you should be sleeping still, so I think that-"

"I really think we should talk now-"

"I'm really sorry Kai, but I have to go now and-"

"I'm pregnant."

I froze, looked back at Kairi, unsure of what to say. She was looking at me nervously, her arms wrapped around her stomach. Only one thought went through my head.

_That explains a few things._


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, depressing chapter ahead.**

**Yay...**

**All I'm gonna say. It's from Namine's POV. Have fun with it.**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>Five years ago I left everything behind. I couldn't stand being around Roxas anymore. He was too happy with Axel. It was obvious that they had something going on. After the car accident they were practically inseparable. I asked Ellie about it, and she hadn't lied to me. She said that they did have something, but chances are they would keep it a secret from everyone.<p>

Roxas always did have issues with relationships. Even if he never realized it.

So I'd left. I loved him still, and he still loved me. He'd told me that when I left. That he loved me. He kissed me and told me not to go. I couldn't stay. When I asked Ellie about leaving she said it was up to me. If I didn't want people to fight, or be in pain, then I should go.

It was, in a way, a selfish thing for her to say. She wanted Axel to be happy, and Roxas was the only thing, no, is the only thing, that can make him happy. I knew that from the beginning.

When I left I didn't want anything to do with anyone. I moved to another city, got another job, ignored all calls from Kairi. Sure, she's my cousin, and she thinks we're close, but she knows nothing about me. I didn't want to talk to her. I guess I should have gotten a new phone and a new number, but in a way I liked knowing that Kairi was thinking about me.

She would leave me messages, and for a few months I would listen to them without making any action. Well, until she told me that Axel had left. He'd hurt Roxas, and I was angry with him. So I called him. I wanted him to know that I wasn't okay with what he was doing. And maybe it had worked. I shouldn't have done that.

I should have just gone back and taken Roxas.

He still loved me.

But no. I didn't. I yelled at Axel, and he ended up with Roxas again. It was like he was mocking me.

The whole world was mocking me.

Nothing went right after I left. No one was nice to me, I didn't know what to do with myself half the time. I'd been molested more than once by my boss, but I couldn't say anything about it for fear of losing my job. I needed that job. My only family eventually stopped calling me, after she got married to Sora. I hated her for that. I would see things in the news about Roxas and Axel. They were so famous because of their job, and they always looked so happy together. There were so many times when I wanted nothing more than to storm back to Radiant Garden and just ruin everything for them.

Too bad I was too scared to.

I hated everything about my life. I hated my past. I hated my family. I hated my home. Absolutely everything. I hated it all.

Nothing was right anymore. No one ever seemed to want to get to know me. I was avoided at work, which I later found out was because of my boss. I tried to quit one time, even though I needed the money, and he threatened me. He wanted me there to keep using me as his toy. Every night I would go home and wish that Kairi would call me again. I couldn't call her. It would show how pathetic I was. And I couldn't talk to Roxas, even though I desperately wanted to. He was happy with his boyfriend.

I couldn't interfere with that, right?

I just wanted to die. I would go home and wish that I would.

Then I realized, why can't I? Why can't I control one thing in my life.

My death.

That's all I wanted to do now. That's why I climbed onto the edge of the overpass and looked down at the oncoming traffic. It was everything I wanted. I would be happy. Finally.


	5. Chapter 5

**NaNoWriMo is taking over my life... literally... -_- That and school. I might not have a chapter for you guys in two weeks. I don't know yet.**

**Becuase NaNo's taking over my life, I don't have much to say for this chapter other than thanks to everyone for reviewing.**

**Anyway, Tifa and Cloud again. In the past. Have fun!**

**Read, review, and another chapter next week.**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>"Looky here. It's little miss Lockhart, trying to fit in at a school for <em>rich<em> people."

My fist clenched tightly around the text book I was trying to take out of my locker. Two girls had walked up to me, their pompous attitudes radiating off of them, and one of them slammed the locker door shut.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, reaching out to open my locker again but a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist, keeping me from doing so.

"Nothing. Because you have nothing." The girls started laughing, but I just rolled my eyes. This was a normal part of my day. Go to my locker after school to get my stuff, get stopped by Dona and Lucrecia, have them laugh at me because my parents are dead and I have to mooch off of my parent's old friends, then they leave because they get bored, and finally I go back to the house I'm living in and try not to rip apart my text book.

"Fine then. Go away."

"Oh Lockhart, when will you learn. We can't just go away," Dona said, pushing her way in between me and my locker. "Not until you learn that you don't belong here, and you certainly don't belong at _his_ house."

"I thought you didn't want anything," I mused, stepping back a little, though I was really thinking about how right she was. Sure, as soon as I turned eighteen, I would become one of the richest females in the world, but right now, I'm just a poor girl going to a school for rich kids.

Dona's eyes narrowed and she reached out, grabbing my lapel threateningly. "Don't push me, Lockhart. I'm already pissed that you're staying at _his_ house. Give me any more reason for me to hate you and I might just... break." She emphasized the "K," nearly spitting it in my face as she let go of my uniform shirt.

"Yeah," Lucrecia joined in, and the two girls smirked at me. "What gives you the right to live at _his_ house."

"You know, _he_ has a name." I rolled my eyes at how "fangirlish" they were acting. I mean, he wasn't _that_ good looking, and he certainly wasn't a people person, so I didn't exactly get why all of the girls in our school fawned over him. "Why won't you just call him by his name. It's not like anyone's going to kill you or something." Then again, that might not be true. He did have a rather nasty temper.

Dona scoffed. "Of course you would think like that. You act all buddy-buddy with _him_. Must be nice to actually live in the same hous-"

"Okay, look. I don't want to live there. I don't want to go to this school. I just want to go home, have my parents back, and leave this godforsaken hell-hole! I'm only here because my parents said I had to live with my godparents!" I snapped. Dona and Lucrecia gasped simultaneously and looked to the side. Following their gaze, I began to regret my words. "Cloud..."

He was standing there, watching me with his normal unreadable expression. I heard Lucrecia and Dona snicker before they ran off.

"Cloud, I didn't mean-"

"Let's go."

I felt extremely embarrassed as I looked down at my feet, following Cloud out of the school. He had been nothing but nice to me in the past year, and I had just acted like a complete bitch.

"Cloud, I'm sorry. I was just trying to get those two to leave me alone." Cloud just glanced back at me, saying nothing, as the two of us began to walk down the street, heading back to his house. "Why aren't you saying anything?" The silence was beginning to worry me. Even though he never did say much, Cloud did always ask me a few questions as we walked home, and the fact that he was staying silent made me sure that he was angry, even if he didn't show it.

Nothing else was said for the remainder of the walk back to Cloud's house, but when we finally got to the large house, he turned to me suddenly and said, "You only have to stay here for one more year. You don't have to come back after that."

My eyes widened. "Wait! I-"

"Come on. I'm sure you have homework to do."

He unlocked the door and entered his house, leaving me standing alone on the doorstep. I could tell that he was hurt, and he was trying very hard to hide it. However, why he was so upset by this, I couldn't quite understand. Sure, we had known each other for almost our entire lives, but he had always been cold towards me, unsociable as always.

And the fact that he did nothing as his brother molested me, when he knew, when he'd seen what happened, didn't help with my confusion.

I watched him walk away, feeling like a shitty person, before turned sharply and running down the front path, away from the house. As I ran, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and ended up nearly crashing into the one person I never enjoyed seeing.

Sephiroth.

Sure, Dona and Lucrecia were bitchy and annoying, but they weren't that bad. Cloud's older brother, on the other hand, had emotionally, and physically tortured me from the moment I met him thirteen years ago. Long silver hair, a demonic gleam in his eye, and an unnatural lust for wandering around the country. Memories of him telling me things, making me do things that made me feel sick, and dirty, flooded through my mind as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

The feeling of disgust returned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Tifa. I heard you were living with my parents, but I didn't think it was true. I guess that it's true that your parents are dead. Interesting." His voice was silkier than I remembered, but then again, I had spent the last three years blocking out all memories of the man, so it was possible that the voice was the same as always.

"Get off of me." I hissed, trying to push his arm off, but he grabbed my wrist with his other hand and wrapped it around my back, keeping me from moving.

"But why? Didn't you miss me?" He leaned in closer, "I thought you would have."

"Get your fucking hands off of her."

The pressure on my left arm disappeared, and I was pulled away from Sephiroth, and into the warm body of someone else. My face flushed.

In front of me, Sephiroth had backed away slightly, an amused look on his face. "Oh? What's this? Did something happen between you two while I was away? I wasn't aware that you were the romantic type, Cloud."

Romantic? Cloud wasn't being romantic, just protective, like an older brother or something. He'd been acting like this recently, even though I don't know what changed. He'd never protected me before.

"What the hell are you doing back here?" Cloud hissed slipping his arm around my waist, keeping me close.

Sephiroth smirked. "Am I not allowed to come home every once and a while, little brother? I did live here for over eighteen years, you know." The man stalked past us, keeping his smirk. "Of course, I suppose neither of you want me here, so my stay will be short. I promise." Cloud's arm tensed around my waist, and I could tell that he was really angry at the moment, but that's not what was important to me.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you went inside," I muttered, pulling away from him and turning around. His expression, as usual, was blank, just staring at me without emotion, though I thought I could see something there. Something... unusual.

"I didn't hear you behind me so I came to find you."

I was confused. "Why? Why aren't you angry? I was a complete jerk back at school and you're acting like nothing happened! What's wrong with you?"

"You had every right to say those things."

"No! I didn't! I was just angry, I didn't mean those things at all! Why..." I trailed off, realizing that no matter what I said, Cloud's expression wasn't going to change. He would still be emotionless, despite everything I thought before. "You know what? I give up. I don't care if you get mad at me any more." I turned to run away again, but I was stopped when Cloud grabbed my wrist.

"Why do you want me to hate you?"

I froze at his question. I didn't want him to hate me, but it was better than him having no emotion at all. His hand left my wrist, and he turned around.

"Come on. My mother probably wants to see us."

Tears threatened to fill my eyes as he walked away again, and this time, I yelled, "Screw you," before running off for the third time. I actually got away running down the street, heading God knows where. I couldn't quite understand why I was so upset by this whole ordeal, but it was starting to scare me. I hadn't been in control of my emotions recently, something that was extremely rare for me.

My mind was racing as I ran though the streets, not paying attention to where I was going.

_Why do I care so much about what Cloud's reaction will be?_

_ Why does it hurt so much when he doesn't seem to care?_

_ Why do I feel like my heart is going to burst out of my chest whenever I see him?_

My head was beginning to hurt as I asked myself these questions and after what seemed like forever, I had to stop running, gasping for breath. Looking around, I noticed that I was in a familiar place; my old home. The place where my parents had died, the place where I grew up. This was a place where there were both good, and horrifying memories. I hadn't been there for a long time. Almost a year, in fact.

For some reason, I calmed down immediately, heading silently up the front path. My family had been wealthy, much like the Strife's, but my mother was more... extravagant. She liked to indulge a little bit, which is why I grew up in a very large, well kept house.

Reaching up to my neck, I pulled the chain necklace out from under my uniform, tugging slightly at the key that dangled from the metal. Slowly, I took off the necklace and inserted the key into the lock of my old front door, shaking in anticipation. I hadn't been back here since the night of the murder, and I was anxious to see what had changed.

Nothing had, really, much to my delight.

My thoughts danced along through different memories as I walked through the house, staring at the pictures of me and my family, of my birthdays, Christmases, and other holidays that were joyously celebrated all those years ago. I didn't stop to think much until I entered the den, where the piano stood.

It was nostalgic, that piano, standing there in the light of the setting sun, and I walked over to it, my finger running along the back of the black instrument. A line appeared on the piano as her finger picked up the dust that had settled on the back of the grand piano.

When I reached the seat, I sat down slowly, remembering the many events that happened around this one instrument.

* * *

><p><em> "Mommy! I can't reach the keys!" A small girl whined, reaching up with her tiny hand towards the ivory line of keys, stretching as far as she could. "Mommy come help me!"<em>

_ "Alright, alright. Just wait a moment, Tifa." The young girl's mother walked over to her, and lifted the small child up on the black bench. "There, now, what are you going to play?" _

_ A young Tifa pondered this for a second, staring at the keys with interest. "I don't know. Something," She said, reaching out her hands again, and placing small fingers on the black and whites, pressing down on them softly._

* * *

><p><em> Soft music sounded throughout the house as the teen practiced relentlessly, a frustrated look on her face as she came to the part in her piece that always tripped her up. She had been working on this for the past three days, and nothing else had mattered to her, but she still couldn't get it right. <em>

_ Here it was, the part. _

_ Almost there. _

_ One more measure._

_ One more second._

_ And..._

_ Tifa slammed her hands down on the keys as she once again missed the chord. Letting out a screech of frustration, she rested her head in her palms, grumbling about how foolish the composer was, putting that sudden octave jump, in the middle of a measure, while playing legato. It just didn't seem to work with the piece. And it was impossible for Tifa, with her small hands. _

_ "You might hurt the keys like that." _

_ Tifa jumped and turned to see the boy she always wished to not see. One year older than her, but still forced to hang out with all the time was Cloud Strife, the youngest son of her parent's friends. He was always a bit calm, didn't have many friends, but he always seemed to be there when Tifa was getting hurt._

_ And she detested him for that. _

_ She accused me all the time in her head of not protecting her. That was all she wanted from him, was to be protected._

_ "What do you know. You don't play the piano," Tifa hissed, preparing to play again. _

_ "You're right. I don't. But I've watched you play enough to know a few things about it." _

_ "You've watched me?" Tifa let out a laugh as she began to play, starting closer to the place she messed up at every time, "What a creep." Her voice was low this time, but Cloud seemed to have heard her. _

_ "I'm not a creep," he said sitting down on the bench next to her, "I just think you're interesting." Tifa growled when he pushed her over a little bit, making room for himself. "Want some help?" _

_ Again she was growing closer to the point where she messed up. _

_ "Why would I want your help? You know nothing about the piano." _

_ Closer. _

_ "I think I could help you."_

_ Tifa felt a shudder at the young boy's words, but she didn't have time to think about it. _

_ "I doubt it."_

_ "Wanna bet?" _

_ Finally, Tifa reached the point, but before she could do much of anything, Cloud placed his hand on hers and moved it quickly up the scale to the right notes. Tifa pressed down on them, surprised that she was finally able to get that part correctly, and she stopped playing. Turning to face Cloud, she saw a smirk on his face, and he stood up. _

_ "I told you I could help you."_

_ Tifa's face flushed red. _

My finger's traced the piano keys lightly, and I began to play.

_"I just want to go home, have my parents back, and leave this godforsaken hell-hole! I'm only here because my parents said I had to live with my godparents!"_

* * *

><p>These words echoed in my head, tormenting me, reminding me that Tifa wasn't happy living with my parents. Not that I blamed her. All they did was talk to her about her family, how happy they were back then, how loving her parents were. If someone had done that to me, I would be upset as well.<p>

Which is why I didn't get mad at her.

She had every right to want to leave, and I had no right to be upset by this, even though it hurt me to watch her suffer. She was important to me, and had been for years. Exactly when I started to feel this way about her, I wasn't sure, but that didn't matter. She didn't like me the way I felt about her, and I doubted that she even liked me to begin with. Every time I saw her she seemed to ignore me, try and get away from me, despite everything I did for her when she was upset.

Of course, she probably wanted nothing to do with me, and resented me for trying to help her like that.

And I was somewhat okay with that. Actually, it was more that I had come to accept the fact that I was always going to have special feelings for the girl who I had known all through my childhood, but she would never have those feelings for me. It was only natural, of course. So I had gotten good at hiding my feelings, hiding what I really wanted from her, but when I saw what my bastard of a brother was doing, I lost control.

I shouldn't have lost control.

It only made her angrier, and she had run away to God knows where. I couldn't help but wonder; where was she? Was she okay? Is she going to do something drastic? That question she asked me...

_ "Why? Why aren't you angry?"_

I didn't have a real answer for that. I guess I was more hurt, rather than angry.

"Why Cloud, where ever has your girlfriend gone? Did you have a fight?" Sephiroth's voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked up from my keys to see him standing against the garage door. "Going to find her, are we?"

"Shut up," I muttered, clambering onto my motorcycle. He was right about the second part, of course. I was going to try and find Tifa. I had to make sure she was safe. Putting on my sunglasses, I turned on Fenrir, the roar of it blocking out the response of my brother. I took off into the evening, wondering what I was going to do if I found Tifa. It was getting dark, dusky, and it was the clouds above were starting to worry me. They were clouds commonly associated with lighting storms, something rather common in Radiant Garden.

_Lighting..._

The one thing that I knew of that Tifa feared. Not thunder, not the sound, but the flashing light.

She had always been a strange girl.

I wasn't really paying attention to where my bike took me, thinking only about what I would do if I couldn't find Tifa. She had never actually run away before.

"Tifa, where are you?" I muttered, blinking away the droplets of rain that had started to fall. There was something nostalgic about the water falling down on me, but I couldn't seem to put my finger on it. It was a memory, I thought, something important to me, but still, I couldn't remember.

Suddenly, I got an idea. Turning my bike sharply, I headed down a street that I hadn't been on in almost a year. The trees that lined the street had begun to bud, showing the change of seasons, and I couldn't help but notice all of the children who were lining the streets, playing joyfully in the puddles of rain.

A smile graced my lips as I thought back to when I was younger, and Tifa and I would do the exact same thing, though it would usually end in something bad happening. It always did. Nothing ever seemed to go right when ever I went to Tifa's house, and I just hoped that my bad luck hadn't followed us through time. After three years of avoiding this place, you would think that the horrible luck would go away.

Slowing down, I pulled into the driveway of the place I spent quite a bit of my childhood, Tifa's house. I pulled off my glasses and looked up at the house, and although it was dark inside, I had a feeling that Tifa was there. As I dismounted Fenrir, a sweet melody reached my ears, one I recognized almost immediately.

It was the song I had helped Tifa with all those years ago.

She was definitely here.

I walked quickly, but quietly up the pathway, trying to avoid stepping in any of the puddles that had formed, though it wouldn't have mattered. The rain had already soaked my clothes.

There were few thoughts going through my head as I walked, and just as I was about to open the door, which I knew would be unlocked, there was a sudden flash of lightening, then thunder, then silence. I froze. The only sound reaching my ears was the patter of rain behind me, and I knew that Tifa was most likely freaking out.

This couldn't be good.

I ran into the house as quickly as I could, barely even noticing that the door had been unlocked. It was dark in there, which was to be expected, but it still scared me slightly. If Tifa was alone, in the dark, with lightning flashing outside, then there was no way she was calm.

I finally found her, though, curled up under the piano, eyes buried in her knees. She was shaking, and seemed to be muttering to herself. She didn't notice me there, but I knew she could still see the lightning flashing outside. Every time light flashed outside the large window, she flinched.

Slowly, I headed over to her, knowing that she might hurt me if I didn't tread carefully. Instant reaction when she was afraid. I'd seen her attack Sephiroth many times when he touched her when she wasn't expecting it. She did that for more than just my brother, obviously, but it was worse with him.

"Tifa, are you alright?" I called out, crouching down so I was under the piano as well. She looked up at me fearfully, tears in her eyes, and I got my answer to the question. "Tifa, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid anymore-" I started to say, but then there was another bout of lightning. Tifa squeaked, eyes wide, and she crawled over to me quickly, grabbing me around the neck. Her face pressed up against my skin, and cold tears splashed against my neck. I comfortingly moved my hands to her back, trying to calm her down a little bit, but really, I was happy she was doing this.

It could mean two things; she wanted to be with me, or she just wanted the comfort of anyone who happened to come her way.

But I needed to get her out of there.

"Hey, I'm going to take you up to your old bedroom, okay?" She whimpered and hugged me tightly. "Don't worry, it won't take that long. But it's darker in there, remember. The windows are blocked by the shades. You won't be able to see the lightning."

Before she could argue with me in any way, I tightened my grip around her and began to back out from under the piano. She didn't seem to want to fight me, but she also wasn't helping at all.

Paralyzing fear.

I knew what that felt like.

When we got out from under the instrument, I managed to pull Tifa to her feet, though this time she struggled against what I needed her to do. That irritated me slightly, but I didn't let her know that, instead saying, "I'm going to carry you there, okay?"

Seven years of martial arts training had made it so carrying someone light like Tifa was extremely easy for me. I don't think she knew that though, as she shook her head.

"No, I can-" she began to croak, but another flash of lightning, and she was back to pressing up against me, face buried in my shirt.

With a sigh, I picked her up in a bridal style, holding her close to me. Ever second that she was with me drove me insane with want, but I had to do this without scaring her. She would never let me touch her again if she knew how much I wanted her.

Walking to her room took a while, and when we finally got there, it took forever to convince Tifa that sitting on her old bed wouldn't kill her. Even though the shades were drawn, so the lightning couldn't be seen, she didn't want to let go of me. Eventually I got her to let go of me, and placed her on the bed.

She was calmer now, sitting in the dark room without any sign of lightning, and I tried to find a lamp that I could turn on. But of course, the electricity wasn't working. I should have known that. No one's lived here for a while.

"Are you okay?" I asked, climbing into the bed with her and drawing the curtains around the bed to make sure that the lightning couldn't be seen at all. I had to admit, Tifa lived in a nice house when she was younger. I hadn't been in her room in years, though, because she always kicked me out when I visited.

"I'm fine," Tifa muttered. "You didn't have to show up. I would have been fine without you."

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm sure you would have been perfectly okay sitting under your piano, shaking like mad while the storm raged." It was only after I said it that I realized how mean it sounded. I guess I was just sick of Tifa trying to act tough all the time. I didn't mean to take it out on her, though.

Through the darkness, I could see that she looked away from me. "Why do you always help me now?"

Now. She added in the now. Which means that she still blamed me for everything that happened to her when Sephiroth still lived at home. I didn't know how to tell her why I didn't try and protect her, and that I felt guilty for being glad she was there to take the abuse instead of me. When it first happened, I saw it. I clearly remembered her being taken into another room by him. My parents weren't home.

They were never home.

I remember opening the door to see what they were doing, and she was crying, yelling at him, telling him to leave her alone, and get off of her. Then she saw me. Her eyes begged me for help, pleaded with me to save her.

I had just closed the door.

At first it was to make it up to her. When she would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming, I felt like comforting her would be the perfect way to clear my conscience. But her body curled up next to mine night after night made me start to feel a different way. Every time I saw her I felt the need to protect her. I wanted her to be safe.

After a while, I realized that I had felt this way about her for a very long time.

But I didn't know how to tell her that. I'd never been good with words.

"Cloud?" I couldn't take my eyes off of her. The way she said my name made me feel something inside I'd been trying to suppress.

I could see her, barely, but I could still see her. She was sitting next to me, legs hanging off the bed. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand moved atop hers, fingers twisting between her own. She flinched a little at the touch and tried to pull away. I tightened my grip though, leaning towards her.

"It's okay, Tifa," I muttered, her eyes never leaving my sight. "I won't hurt you." She stopped trying to move away from me as I leaned closer, and kissed her. When she didn't pull away from me, I moved closer to her, and I think my mind disappeared. Her body seemed so much smaller than mine as I pushed her down on the bed. I knew I had to tread carefully; any move I made could make her feel like she was being forced into this, and then she would hate me.

But she seemed to be just as into what was going on as I was, wrapping her arms around my neck. Finally, she let go of me, like she had come to her senses and realized what I was doing. Immediately I pulled away from her.

"Cloud?" She questioned, breathing heavily.

It was now or never. "I love you, Tifa."

The fact that her face turned red seemed to entertain me greatly. I took a chance and leaned down to kiss her again, pretty sure that she was going to push me away. But she didn't.

"I love you too," she muttered right before I kissed her.


	6. Chapter 6

**... Sorry it's late... I fell asleep yesterday after I finished editing this, then I didn't wake up until late, then I forgot about it and today I was going to post it when I got home from school only that didn't work because I had something I needed to do and I just now got internet so...**

***sigh* Anyway, you guys are lucky. Really lucky. I'm doing NaNoWriMo, right? Well, that's been taking up all of my time, but I made sure to finish the chapter after this just for you guys. Even though I think I only have one reader...**

**So enjoy reading about young Roxas. He's really funny.**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>"Now Roxas, be sure to be back before too long, okay?"<p>

I rolled my eyes and opened the front door. "_Mom_! I'm almost ten years old. I think I'll be fine."

"I know, I know," Mom said, following me out of the house, "but still. It's dangerous out there." She paused for a minute, watching me. I wanted to leave, but there was something about the way she was looking at me that made me unable to move. I hated it when she looked at me like that. "You know what? I think you're too young for this still. I'm going to go with you!"

"Mom! All of my friends are going out by themselves. I should be able to too! Hayner's mom let him go out last year," I whined. She was way too protective of me. Walking to school by myself was the last thing I made her let me do. It took me forever to convince her that I wasn't going to die walking five minutes to school.

I'm pretty sure she still followed me to school all the time.

"Yes, but Hayner's mom... I mean, Hayner is... I mean." She looked annoyed. But I didn't care. It was Halloween. I was going to get a lot of candy. More than Hayner most likely. Last year, if Mom hadn't been with me, I so would have had a ton more. She made me come in way too early for my liking.

Hayner was going down this year.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. Bye Mom!" Before she could say anything else I took off running down the street. The cool air felt really nice, and I nearly let out a scream of joy. Finally, I had no parent to follow me around during the night of Halloween.

This was going to be the best night ever!

I wanted to scream again. This time, it wasn't because I was happy, it was because I was upset. Sure, the rain clouds overhead had been threatening, but I didn't think it would actually rain. But now it was pouring, and I was stuck at the playground near my house, trying not to get soaked.

I had a ton of candy though. There was no way Hayner was going to have more than me. I would finally have beaten him at something. He always kicked my butt at the contests that we've had, which I would never admit to at school.

This time, he would lose.

And life would be so much better.

* * *

><p>If only the rain would stop, so I could head home. It was getting really late, and I knew that Mom would start getting really scared that I wasn't home yet. I mean, it wasn't <em>that <em>late. It was probably only around nine or something, but still, that was past my bedtime, and Mom _hated_ it when I stayed up past it.

I seriously couldn't wait to be older. Then I could stay up till ten and not get in trouble. That would be really awesome.

Hayner and I had awesome plans for when we were teenagers, but that was four years away. I didn't really want to wait that long.

"Come on...," I muttered, glancing out from under the little shelter I'd found. It was raining really hard still, and I thought it was going to start flooding soon. That didn't happen most of the time, but sometimes, I thought it was going to happen. I tried to ask Mom one time if it always rained this hard here, but she always went missing during a storm. Dad said she was afraid of thunder and lighting.

I never understood why. It wasn't scary at all. In fact, nothing was scary. I wasn't scared of anything. Mom told me I would find at least one thing I was afraid of, but I figured that she didn't know what she was talking about.

I mean, she was afraid of thunder.

She clearly didn't know anything.

It was then I heard voices, coming from outside of my little hideout. It sounded like boys older than me, two of them.

I felt like the world was being nice to me. Maybe if I can hang out with older kids, Mom would be more okay with me being out. I mean, older kids always have more freedom, so if they hang out with kids younger than them, then those kids get the freedom too. It was a brilliant idea.

I glanced out into the rain storm again, watching two figures come closer to me. Through the rain, I could hear them talking to each other.

"Okay, Sora, it's seriously cool that your mom's sis moved here. I can't believe we get to spend a week out here, during Halloween."

"I know! There are so many people here."

"Yeah. Man, I think I want to move here when I'm older."

"Really? This dreary city?"

"Yeah! Why not?"

"Because it's rainy and cold."

"So? It's better than a isolated little place where everyone knows everything about everyone."

"But, this place is really big. And weird."

At first, I thought these guys could be fun to be friends with. But they didn't live here, so that option flew away. Hooray.

"Hey, Riku, look! There's some kid under there, probably hiding from the rain."

"Psh. Pathetic."

I flinched, not sure why the taller boy used that harsh tone. I could see them better now, though they were kind of just outlines. I could hear where their voices were coming from, though, so I knew it was the older one who had said I was pathetic. Riku, probably.

"It's not pathetic. People here are probably so used to the rain that they get sick of it." Wow, the shorter one, Sora, was nicer. And smarter, apparently. It did rain all the time here, and I used to love running outside in the rain. I still kind of do, when I'm with another person like Hayner, but right now it was just annoying. Especially since it was keeping me from finding my way home.

Suddenly the two boys were standing right outside my shelter, glancing down into it. I backed away quickly, not exactly sure if they were people I wanted to talk to or not. They even looked weird. They were a lot tanner than most of the people living in Radiant Garden, and the taller one had silver hair, which was a weird color. I'd never seen anyone with silver hair before. I didn't think they existed unless they were old people.

"Damn, it's just a little boy," the silver haired one said, rolling his eyes. "I was hoping it was someone older so we could ask how to get back to your aunt's place."

"I'm not that little," I protested. "I'm almost ten." The two boys exchanged glances, then burst out laughing, like I'd said something really funny. I didn't get why, of course, but it was really starting to annoy me. I wasn't trying to be funny.

"Oh, look, he's _almost_ ten. He's _so_ old," Riku said, sliding under the shelter, Sora joining him.

"Yeah, that's _so_ old. I mean, I thought he couldn't be older than _eight_, but _almost ten_? It's like he's an adult."

Okay, scratch Sora being nice. He wasn't at all.

"Whatever," Riku sighed and sat down in the sand, smirking at me. "So, kid, what's your name?" He asked, clearly thinking that I wasn't going to be hurt by how mean he was. I just looked away and crossed my arms. His reaction was to laugh.

"Okay, I'm gonna call you blondie then, because clearly you don't care."

Blondie? Was that supposed to be some kind of insult? I'd heard many "dumb blonde" jokes, so I guessed that in a way he was making fun of me for being blond, but I just kept that anger to myself. The two of them were a lot bigger than me. If I tried to fight with them, they would probably kill me. It wasn't like Hayner, who was as skinny as I was.

So still, I didn't talk.

"I think we angered him," Sora said, acting like I wasn't there anymore. "Think he's sensitive about his age?"

"Probably. He's so short. He's probably been made fun of for his height all the time."

I flinched, and glared over at Riku, trying to look menacing. I never got picked on by anyone.

"What are you guys doing here?" I finally asked, trying to remind them that I was there. "You don't live anywhere near here, so you should just leave!"

"Feisty," Riku laughed. "I didn't realize you had anything in that little body of yours." Almost as if to piss me off, he reached over and patted me on the head. "Isn't that just hilarious?" I smacked his hand away and started crawling out of the shelter, not caring that it was a violently raining, I wanted to get away from these two.

But I didn't get very far, because both of my arms were grabbed and I was pulled back onto my butt.

"Oh, come on, it's pouring out there. I don't think your _mommy _would appreciate your costume getting all wet." I felt my face turn red. I hadn't called Mom "mommy" in years, so it was ridiculous for them to say that to me. Besides, she wouldn't care. It was just a costume. Not anything special.

"Go away."

"Nope. Sora doesn't know the way back to his aunt's house, and I don't feel like getting hypothermia."

I blinked. I had no idea what this "hypothermia" thing was. But it didn't sound good. "Well then let me leave. I need to go home." I tried to leave again, but those two boys didn't seem to want to let me. Instead, I was grabbed by the arm again.

"Stay, stay."

"No! I don't want to!"

"Too bad, you're going to have to."

"Let me go!" I struggled against the stupid boys' grip, but man were they strong. It wasn't at all like fighting against the boys at school. At least with them I could get in a few punches and have some kind of chance to win.

Not with them.

"Dude, Riku, I think we should let him go now," Sora said when Riku pushed me onto my back and held me down. I had no idea why he was doing this. Wouldn't it have been easier for the two of them to just leave me alone? They only seemed interested in making fun of me. Joking around, and making things worse for me.

This night was not going the way I wanted it to.

"Yeah, let me go you jerk," I growled, struggling under his hands. I shouldn't have said that. This guy definitely would have let me up, but apparently he doesn't like being sassed.

"Okay, now I don't really feel like being nice," he said, shaking his head at Sora. "Because of that little comment, I'm just going to keep you pinned here. All night." I felt a rush of horror. I couldn't stay out all night. It was against the rules.

"No! Let me go! My mom said I have to be back-"

"Aw, your mommy said that you have to be home soon? How adorable," Riku cooed what I guessed was a sarcastic comment. I narrowed my eyes and tried to shake him off, angry beyond all belief. He was a jerk. A horrible person!

"Riku, come on, we should be getting back soon as well."

"Yeah, only we don't know how to get back, so I think I'm just going to stay here and bug this little kid."

"You're sadistic."

"I know. It's wonderful, isn't it."

I figured that sadistic meant that he was a horrible person. I really couldn't wait to be older.

I would then find these guys, and get back at them for being so mean to me.

"I have a feeling you're never going to get a girlfriend," Sora laughed, grabbing at my candy bag. "Anyway, since we're already torturing the little dude, I suppose we can just take his candy too. After all, we weren't able to get any thanks to being too old."

No. Not the candy. That's horrible of them! Absolutely horrible! If they lived in Radiant Garden, I would so find out where they lived and get Hayner to help me do something horrible to them. But they didn't live in Radiant Garden. They probably would never visit here again. So I wouldn't be able to get back at them.

It was a horrible feeling knowing that this is what was actually happening.

"Please let go of me," I muttered. "You can keep the candy. I just want to go home." The rain was letting up, but it was still really dark out, meaning it was really, really late.

Mom was going to kill me.

"Hm... should we?" Riku glanced over at his friend, who was holding onto my candy bag.

"Yeah, sure. But first..." He reached into the backpack that he'd been carrying around, and brought out a plastic box with something black in it. "I think we should scare the crap out of him, just to make an impression."

For the first time since I can remember, I was afraid. Really afraid. Especially when Riku smirked.

* * *

><p>They tortured me for a little while longer, then left, laughing. I stumbled home in the now drizzle, feeling the need to cry. Was there any reason for them to be so mean? Not only did they take the candy I'd worked so hard to collect, but they also decided to tie me up, dump fake spiders on me, and then painted my face with black paint.<p>

I felt horrible.

"Roxas! Oh God, there you are!" I heard mom yell when I was on our street. I looked up and she rushed towards me. "Are you okay? Why is there black paint on your face? What happened to you?"

I started crying then, but decided she didn't need to see that. Instead, I ran up to her and hugged her around the waist, burying my face in her dress. I didn't care that there was paint on my face. I was too annoyed, and angry, and pissed off.

Those boys were absolutely horrible.

"Roxas? Are you okay? Please, tell me what happened," Mom said, crouching down to hug me. "Did someone hurt you?"

I shook my head. I mean technically, they hadn't hurt me, but still. I didn't speak as Mom picked me up and carried me back home. So what if I was too old for her to carry me. I didn't care. I was too upset.

"I hate Halloween," I muttered when we got inside the house. "I'm never going out again."

Mom just told me that it was okay, and that I would probably change my mind in a little while. But I knew I wouldn't. Halloween was a horrible holiday and teenagers on Halloween were horrible people. I just wanted to forget everything about tonight, about those boys. Luckily, their names and faces were already becoming a bit blurry.

I would never meet them again.

That was the only good thing about this.


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, my beta suggested I give you guys the ages, so I did. Be happy. This is an... um.. interesting chapter about how each of the main characters got their job (except for Namine. I don't know she got her job. She's been quiet since she told me she kills herself). But whatever. My computer has a virus, so I don't know when I'll be able to get it back, also NaNo has taken over my life (70,000 words!) and I'm probably not going to write fanfiction after this just because I have... um... 7 and 1/2 original books to write, so...**

**Anyway, read, REVIEW, and I'll see you guys next week. (Well, whoever is actually reading this)**

**~Sunechirei**

**Ah, this will make sense eventually, but if you want a translation for what Ellie's saying, let me know and I'll post it in the next chapter.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Axel- Age 22<p>

People annoy me. That's all there is to it. I swear that if the world emptied itself of all people in the world, then I would probably actually be really happy with my life. Well, most of them should leave, anyway. Ellie is fine, and her boyfriend's okay I guess because he made her happy, and Demyx is cool, but that was it.

Everyone else should just leave.

The reason why?

_They're all fucking idiots!_

I mean, yeah, I'm a genius so pretty much everyone is stupider than I am, but I'm not _that_ much smarter than other people. They're just so stupid. Especially the idiot pacing around the waiting area, talking about how much better he was than everyone.

"Cloud Strife is going to love me," he said haughtily, glaring at me. Why did he have to glare at me? I was already nervous about this stupid interview without having someone glaring at me. "I'm the smartest one here, the best at dealing with people, the most confident, the best credentials... Everything!" He let out a laugh. "The rest of you idiots should just go home."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. The rest of the people applying for this job had a similar reaction to mine, only they were more open about their hatred for the dude. I would think that an interview with the richest guy in the world for the position of his successor would bring about more serious people. But not this guy.

Unfortunately.

You know, I couldn't understand why Mr. Strife was going to hire someone. He had a son, after all. Roxas. Probably the most adorable guy I've ever met.

Well... "met." I don't think the teen remembered me, even though he kissed me at that party and made me realize that I wasn't, in fact, straight. This was all his fault. But it was okay, because he was really cute.

Really, really cute. One of the main reasons I applied for this job was because I might get to meet Roxas. Which would be awesome. I could pretty much get any job in the world, but I wanted to go after this one. Ellie thought I was nuts because of this and didn't talk to me very often anymore. Of course, it helped that she was always busy with that freak of nature Riku and lived by herself now.

I kinda missed the days before Riku showed up in our lives.

Kinda.

"What are you all still doing here? Cloud Strife isn't going to hire any of you. Especially not _you_." He pointed directly at me, a smirk on his face. I just kinda gave him a look of disbelief before going back to the medical textbook I was reading for the heck of it. It was kinda interesting, though probably pointless because I wasn't going to go into medicine.

"Just sit down," I finally said. "If you're really that confident, then you shouldn't care if we're here or not."

He flinched, and I grinned. This guy was so stupid. It's never wise to show your weak points to the outside world. They will be used against you.

"You're just jealous because I have an I.Q of 140, which is borderline genius, and I have better hygiene and looks than you do," he snapped back. Wow. This guy was stupid. He didn't know anything about me.

"What?" I asked, feeling slightly amused, but also annoyed. "Can't stand the fact that I have tattoos, don't bother dressing up in a fancy matter, and I'm not hated by every single person in this room at the very moment?" A snicker passed through the room of applicants, and I smiled. Maybe more people weren't that bad.

I kinda tuned out the guy as he ranted at me. There was no point in talking to him anymore because he was just some idiot. But after a time he started to get annoying, so I did the only thing I could think of doing.

I stood up, closed the book I was reading, and chucked it at the guy. Sure, I would _probably_ get in trouble for this, but I didn't care at the moment. Jail wasn't _that_ bad of a place. The people there usually left me alone.

Unfortunately, the idiot ducked, and the book flew across the room and hit someone I wasn't expecting to see.

Blond hair, blue eyes, a stoic expression, and blood trickling down a fresh cut on his face. No one in the room talked. No one in the room moved as Cloud Strife glanced down at the book that was now resting on the floor, touched the cut on his cheek, looked at the blood, then glanced over at me.

"Axel Lea?" He called out. I flinched, realizing that I was totally screwed now.

"Yes?"

"You're first."

_Oh shit._

He was going to torture me with putting me through an interview, then laugh in my face as he kicked me out of the office. I would never be able to get a job now. Especially not without a P.h.D. I figured I should write my thesis finally...

Slowly, I followed him into his office, trying to ignore the snicker that came from the guy who I'd originally tried to throw a book at. I officially hated him now. Before he was just annoying. Now he was the worst person in the world.

Well, one of them.

Ellie was so going to rub this in my face. She would laugh at me for the rest of my life and never let me forget that because of my idiocy, I lost the shot of getting to know the guy I happened to really, really like. Maybe love even.

Though, I didn't exactly know Roxas at that point. Sure, I'd been kinda stalking him for the past... seven years? Something like that, but I didn't actually know him, and chances are, he would freak out if I just randomly started talking to him. Which is the only reason why I hadn't done that yet.

"Sit down," Mr. Strife instructed me, pointing to the chair in front of his desk. I did what he said and watched as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a band-aide to put on his cut. Which was weird. What kind of rich guy keeps band-aides in his office?

Actually, what kind of rich guy actually does the interviews for his job? And why alone? None of this was making any sense, and the more I thought about it, the more scared I became. What if this was all a hoax? There was no way this was real. This guy's cabinet members must be pulling a prank on us all.

That would just be annoying.

And would piss me off.

"Well, not the best way to start off an interview," Mr. Strife said, sounding completely amused as he sat down, "but I won't hold it against you."

Again, none of this made any sense.

"But I just hit you with a book, and-"

"I've looked over your application, and I have a few questions to ask you. Do you understand?"

I could only nod. There was no point in fighting the inevitable. Mr. Strife was going to destroy me.

"Good. What's your greatest weakness?"

Seriously? He was asking me about my weaknesses? At a job interview like this? Was there something wrong with the guy? This wasn't the kind of thing you asked at a high level job! You could just get that from the references or something. But...

"I'm... I'm not sure. I guess I can be kinda laz- I mean, I get bored easily." I had to be a good person. No sarcasm. I could only be polite. It was going to kill me. 'Make everything sound better than it really is' is the advice Ellie had given me before I came to this place. Good advice. I just hoped I could pull it off.

Mr. Strife gave me a look before writing something down in his file. I desperately wanted to read what he was saying, but I figured it wouldn't be wise to try and look at it.

"How would you describe the pace that you work at?"

"Um... It depends on what the work is, how bored I am, and how easy it is." Only thing I could think of to say. I couldn't believe that my brain was failing me for the first time in twenty-two years at such an important event.

"What do you do when you have a difficult situation that you need to deal with?"

"Never had a difficult situation." I regretted saying this immediately. Now he was going to think I was some kind of stuck up bastard. Which I, you know, was, but he didn't need to know that yet.

"What do you think you would do then?"

"Probably work at it until I fixed it."

"Hm..." There was more writing, but I could see a glimmer of amusement in Mr. Strife's eyes. I couldn't tell if that was a good, or a bad thing. It could be either with someone like him.

"Is that-"

"Why this job?" He asked me suddenly. I paled and looked down at my hands. There was no way I could tell him it was so I could get to know his son better and maybe have a relationship with the adorable teen. That would just freak him out. I probably shouldn't let him know that I knew his son.

"I have my degree in business and I feel like it would be a good thing for me to do." I laughed nervously, knowing that this was a total lie. He wasn't going to buy it, and I knew that.

"Are you overqualified for the job?" He glanced down at my application with a raised eyebrow. Probably looking at my school history.

"I would be if I had my stupid P.h.D," I growled, more to myself than Mr. Strife.

I was surprised to hear him let out a little laugh before moving on to the next question; "So, you're working on getting your doctorate right now?"

I sighed. "Yeah... I meant to finish it a while ago, but I kept forgetting to write my thesis."

"Forgetting?" He didn't sound very happy with that. I laughed again and shook my head, mentally slapping myself for saying something so stupid. There was no way he would think I was a good candidate if I said something like that.

"I mean... I mean that I've been so busy that I've had no _time _to write my thesis good enough for my professor." The damn man. I swear that my professor had been trying to kill me the entire time I was in college. He never left me alone, always tried to get me in trouble, and did his best to fail me in every class.

"Good save." I wanted to laugh at how blatantly Mr. Strife said that, but I kept my mouth shut. No need to make him feel like I was mocking him or something. "I think that will do, thank you." He stood up quickly, which caused me to do the same.

A mistake on my part, of course.

Mr. Strife was quite a bit shorter than I was, and he didn't seem to be the kind of guy who liked it when people towered over him. But I tried to ignore this fact as we shook hands.

"Alright, so -" I started to say, but he interrupted me with the weirdest question I'd ever heard.

"You know my son, correct?"

Axel Lea was definitely the most interesting, and qualified, of the applicants I had to interview. So, of course, he was the one I ended up becoming most focused on. It didn't help that he was also the guy who my son was obsessed with as a child. Even after Roxas forgot about him, I could tell that there was something there that wasn't before.

I couldn't help but think that maybe Axel was the best guy for the job. And not just because he was a genius who seemed to care less about what people thought of him. If Roxas did end up working for me, which I knew he would, then he would need to work with someone he could get along with.

It would take a while, but I was certain he and Axel would get along.

So after a pathetically pointless interview, I knew that Axel was the one who I needed to hire.

He seemed to like this idea, especially since I mentioned that it was okay if he had a thing with Roxas when Roxas was eighteen.

I had a feeling that work was going to become interesting soon.

* * *

><p>Kairi- Age 22<p>

When Sora and I moved to Radiant Garden, I hadn't realized that it would really difficult to find a job. Sora didn't have as much of a need for one because of his aunt, but I needed a way to pay for college.

I let out a sigh. There was no way I was going to get this job. It wasn't much different than the others. There were probably people who were a hell of a lot more qualified for working at Cloud Strife's office than I was.

As I walked into the building, holding my papers tightly to my chest, I couldn't help but think about how much better my life would be right now if I'd stayed on Destiny Island. That place was so much nicer, and I knew that I was going to move back there as soon as I got my degree.

Whether Sora and I found where Riku was or not.

That's the main reason we came to Radiant Garden. Neither of us had heard from him in a long time, so we were both worried.

But finding him proved to be as difficult as finding a job in this stupid city.

Sora and I should have done something as soon as Riku left. It would have been easier to find him before, but now it was like he just vanished off the face of the Earth. He probably wasn't even in Radiant Garden anymore. I really missed him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The voice was behind me the moment I walked into the building, and I nearly dropped my papers in shock. I hadn't seen any guy before. I turned around to see who was the one talking to me, and saw a really strange looking man who I immediately thought was going to kill me. He had bright red hair, green eyes, was really tall, and had the weirdest tattoos underneath his eyes.

I gulped and backed away from him slightly.

"Um... I'm here for a job interview as a secretary," I managed to say, even though I probably shouldn't have. Especially since the strange man suddenly grinned and walked over to me. I could only laugh and back away from him. "So... I'll just be heading upstairs now."

I tried to head towards the elevators, but before I could get anywhere near them, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and steered me in the other direction.

"Aw, don't run away," he cooed. "I'm not scary. Am I?"

I laughed nervously. "No. Of course not, mister. But I have to go now, so can you please-"

"And why does a pretty girl like you want to work as a secretary here?" Oh god... He was flirting with me. There was something wrong with this situation, and I wasn't really happy with it.

"I have a boyfriend...," I muttered.

"And I'm gay. So I don't think think there's any chance of anything happening between us." He winked at me, and I felt like laughing. This guy was weird, but also really funny. "Anyway, why do you want to work here?"

"I need a job," I replied simply. "This was the first place I could get an interview for. That's all."

"Huh. Interesting."

"Why do you want to know?" I asked. He just smiled and let me go.

"No reason. And your name is?"

"Kairi."

"Pretty name. I'll see you later Ms. Kairi." Then he was gone. It was like he just teleported somewhere. I could only blink and wonder what the hell was going on in this place. That guy probably worked here, based on the fact that he wandered around here like he owned the place. I doubted he was Cloud Strife's son, as his son was a lot younger than I was, and was supposedly blond. So the only other option, besides being a freak, was to work here.

If I did get the job, this was going to be a really interesting place to work. I began to really hope I got this job, and not just to pay for class.

With a sigh, I headed over to the front desk to see where the interview was supposed to take place. Talking to that strange person had made me forget exactly where I was supposed to go. Unfortunately.

Surprisingly, I recognized the person at the front desk.

"Naminé?" I called. Immediately, my younger cousin turned around in her chair, eyes wide.

"Kairi? You moved to Radiant Garden? I didn't know that!" She stood up and practically pranced over to me with a giant smile on her face. "I thought you and Sora were somewhere else!"

I let out a laugh and hugged her. "Well, we were living somewhere else, but the school closed down, so we moved here hoping we could find Riku. It happened so suddenly that I didn't really have time to contact anyone. But I didn't know you were working here."

"It's a long story that I don't want to get into right now..." Naminé looked away from me, but didn't say anything else.

"That's fine." I laughed again. "Can you tell me where I'm supposed to have my interview?" I asked, looking around. "I don't remember after talking to that weird guy. Does he work here?" Naminé gave me a confused look. "Red hair, really tall."

"Oh! Axel? Yeah. He's the one who's going to interviewing you."

…. Okay, I hadn't been expecting that. I probably totally screwed up talking to him. "He's what?"

"Axel Lea. He's the one who's going to inherit this business, if Roxas decides to do something else. Otherwise, he'll be Roxas' business partner."

"Roxas?"

"Mr. Strife's son."

Again, I hadn't been expecting any of that. I'd already met the guy who was in charge of hiring me, and didn't really make a good impression. This wasn't going to go over very well. And why would Mr. Strife hire a guy like that? He was weird, had an odd appearance, and seemed to have no work ethic whatsoever.

Not that I would, you know, tell that to his face.

"So, you should head up to the eighth floor. That's where Axel's office is." I smiled my appreciation to Naminé, and headed to the elevator. The entire ride up I felt like I was going to die inside. There was no way I could get the job now. But as soon as the elevator door opened on the eighth floor, I was surprised to see a grinning Axel standing in front of me.

He reached forward and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the elevator.

"So, when can you start?" He asked me. I could only look at him with a confused expression.

"What?"

"You're hired. I like you. When can you start?"

Yeah. This place was weird. I understood why Naminé didn't want to talk about how she got hired. It was probably something weird.

"Um... as soon as you want me to."

"Good! You'll be working on the thirteenth floor for Mr. Boss-man- er... Mr. Strife starting tomorrow. 'Kay?" Okay, this was too good to be true. I mean, seriously. I wanted to know what was going on here. It must have been a prank or something.

"But-"

"See you tomorrow!" Then he was gone again.

Weirdest. Thing. Ever.

But oh well.

* * *

><p>Ellie- (eventually) Age 25<p>

Small drops of rain trickled down the lush green plants that surrounded the window pane. Beneath the leaves, small golden eyes peered out over two tiny arms. The young girl watched the sun rise over the eastern hills, eyes bright and curious. There were a few clouds in the sky, and they glowed orange with the rising sun.

Ellie watched the empty streets quietly. There would be no one out so early in the morning, and she loved that. The emptiness, the solemn quiet, and most of all, the stars that were visible, even in the morning light. When people were out, they always put on their lights so they could see, making it nearly impossible to see the twinkling lights in the sky. Even at the age of three, Ellie understood that.

And hated it.

Soon there would be people outside. Another thing Ellie loved to watch in the morning was the people waking up. Across the street from her house was a bakery. Every morning the baker, Mr. Cid, would open up the shop and get everything ready. He was a funny man. Twitchy, somewhat harsh, but at the same time a little jolly. Ellie would walk by his shop at times, and he would give her free samples of cookies.

She loved that.

But today he wasn't waking up. In fact, no one seemed to be walking out on the streets, which confused Ellie.

It wasn't something she was used to. She frowned, and pushed away from the window, clambering down off her bed. She stumbled to the door of her room and grabbed the doorknob. It was hard for her to reach, but she managed it eventually, before bursting out into the main part of the house.

Her mom was already awake; standing in the kitchen as she cooked breakfast for her two daughters, and most likely her husband too. She was always up this early in the morning.

Like mother like daughter.

"_Marana, sino_!" Ellie exclaimed as soon as she entered the kitchen.

"Up before the crack of dawn again, my little _Shinta._ I will never get over how strange this is."

"_Varan tier mo_-"

"English, Ellie. You know you have to learn to speak it. Very few here speak that language."

Ellie frowned, and crossed her arms. "_Ne. Mir kall an-_"

"English."

"But... I... hate... English," she muttered, thinking hard about her words. "Why do... Why do I have to..."

"Because you'll have to speak it when you're older." The accent lingering on the woman's voice was barely noticeable, but it was clear that the language she was speaking wasn't her native one. "Do not worry," she whispered, leaning down to her daughter's level, "I will always speak in this language to you. Alright?"

Ellie smiled and nodded.

"Okay. Now then, how would you like to take Daddy's breakfast to him? I'm sure he's hungry after working at the hospital all night." There was a note of concern in her voice that confused Ellie for a minute, but then she nodded.

Her mother handed her a bag of food, before leading Ellie to the door.

"Be careful now, my little _Shinta._" She kissed Ellie on the head and watched her daughter run down the street. For the small three year old, this was a journey. Even though she'd been down this streets a hundred times, she still marveled at everything around her. Different conversations took place every day, and though she didn't speak English well, she understood it.

The air was cool, this morning, a hint of fall in the air. Of course, the rain from the previous evening helped make the morning very chilly. Despite this, Ellie didn't mind running through the streets. She loved to run. Always had. And she would be able to see her father at work, which was something rare.

She got there quickly, as the small hospital was only a few minutes run from her house, and when she got there, she saw something strange.

A young man with wet blond hair was carrying a woman on his back. She was sleeping, and there was lots of blood caked on her skin. Ellie froze when she saw the two of them heading into the hospital, confused. She'd seen blood before, but never that much.

Slowly, she followed the two of them into the hospital, nearly forgetting about her little mission to give her father food. She'd never seen the two of them before, which meant that they didn't live anywhere in her town. It was a small place, where everyone knew each other, and gossip was plenty. If something happened, everyone knew about it within hours.

A nice place.

The inside of the hospital was almost empty. It was just Ellie, the strange man, and a nurse talking to him. They were talking about who the strangers were, what happened to the woman, and something about Ellie's dad.

Ellie could only watch the strange man with interest until he was done talking to the nurse. He looked extremely upset for some reason, and Ellie felt like she should talk to him.

She skipped over to him, smiling hesitantly, like she didn't know what she should say to him. When she got close enough, he noticed her. She was smiling widely by then, feeling completely comfortable.

"H-Hello," the man muttered, seeming confused by the small girl. She giggled.

"Is that person your... wife?" She asked, thinking about her choice of words for a moment. She pondered what was said for a second, wondering if she'd said something wrong, because the man's eyes widened, and he looked away from her.

"Who are you?"

"Ellie!" The girl chirped, rocking back and forth on her feet. "I'm... I'm... I'm three!" She giggled after saying this, and put the bag of food down on the ground. It was really heavy for the young girl. The man let out a sigh, and leaned down to Ellie's level, his blue eyes watching her curiously. She laughed again, nervously this time, and smiled at him.

"No... She isn't," he said somewhat hesitantly. It looked as though he wasn't quite comfortable dealing with such a young child, but he tried to anyway. This made Ellie happy. His answer didn't, though.

"Why not?" She asked, leaning forward. "She's pretty."

The man turned slightly pink, and stood up again. He turned away from Ellie and shook his head, saying, "Yeah. But that doesn't matter. Now, where is your mom?"

"_Marana_ is at home. I came to see _Varan_. He needs his food!" She pointed proudly at the bag near her feet, chest puffed out. The man glanced back at her curiously, but didn't say anything to her. He was confused, clearly, but Ellie couldn't understand why. Before she could ask him, though, a deep voice called out to her.

"Ellie! What are you doing here?" It was her father.

Her eyes widened, and she grabbed the bag at her feet before dashing over to the man in scrubs.

"_Varan! Il neir kan muir vorunir!_"

"_Il jorn var dephir min frem hiua!_" The man snapped suddenly, glaring at the child. She flinched and looked down at her feet, clearly not expecting his harsh tone. The man standing next to Ellie looked surprised as well.

"_Mir can nar..._" Ellie held out the bag silently, feeling completely resigned.

The man sighed, grabbed the bag, then turned to the other man in the room without addressing his daughter again. "Are you Mr. Strife?" He asked. Cloud nodded, but didn't say anything. There was a look of pure horror in his eyes. "Well, Ms. Lockhart will be fine, so you don't need to worry about her. A few minor cuts that've been fixed up, but that's all."

"_Varan..._?" Ellie called out to her father, trying to get his attention again. The man just waved her off. She turned around to leave, listening to her father talk to the strange man who had just carried a nearly dead woman in with him.

When she was almost out of the hospital, she heard someone call her name again, and she turned around to see Cloud Strife heading towards her. She stopped, curious. When he reached her, he bent down and held out his hand. Sitting in his palm was a small silver necklace with an intricate heart design on it. She cocked her head and asked him what he was doing.

"This necklace was my mother's," he said quietly. "You won't understand right now why I'm giving this to you, or really what I'm about to say, but I want you to know that things will get better, alright? Your father... He seems to be a difficult man to talk to, but things will get better with him in time. You just have to be patient."

Ellie didn't say anything before Cloud reached around her neck and put the necklace on her.

"Don't forget that language," he said. "And don't get down because of the way one person treats you, alright?"

Before Ellie could say anything, he pushed her out the hospital door, then began following a nurse farther into the hospital. Ellie reached down and looked at the pretty little necklace. It was too big for her, but she still liked it. With a smile on her face, she began to skip home, glad that she'd made a new friend today.

* * *

><p>Walking down the streets was the worst thing in the world. Especially when people recognized you. Most famous people seemed to like the attention they got, but I hated it. Especially since I couldn't understand why I was so famous.<p>

Sure, I was considered to be the richest man in the world, but I didn't care about that. I would have been perfectly happy just living life with Tifa and Roxas without a lot of money. Sure, my son was a bit odd at times, and I was mostly convinced that if he did start working for me, then he and Axel would end up having a relationship that would break Tifa's heart, and my wife had her own demons that she was dealing with, but they were my family.

My only family.

My parents couldn't be counted for anything, as they were never there, and then there was Sephiroth... I couldn't deal with him being related to me. Just the fact that he shared my blood made me feel sick inside.

I just needed my family, but of course, they would need more than that. The only reason why I dealt with idiots day, after day, after day was because I wanted to be able to provide for them no matter what the circumstances.

Still, it was difficult at times to not want to just punch the nearest tree when your lawyer suddenly quits for no reason and doesn't even bother trying to find a replacement. That's what I hated most about my work.

But, because this happened, I needed to find a new one. Which is the only reason why I was walking out on the crowded streets of Radiant Garden. I was heading to the courtroom in order to find out who a good friend of mine and a judge, Angeal, thought would be best to work for me. He was usually right about everything.

Usually, being the key word.

I was nearly to the door of the courtroom when I was surprised by a voice, however. No, not a voice, but a language that was being spoken.

"_Ne. Vara, du blith ma cone ne bringishir._" I recognized that language almost instantly, even though it had been over twenty years since the last time he'd heard it. From that little girl at the hospital, when she talked to her jackass of a father. I never liked that man. He always acted like he was better than me, and then when I saw how he treated his daughter, I felt somewhat sick to my stomach.

Just the look in the girl's golden eyes... How sad she was made me feel horrible inside. That's why I gave her my mother's necklace. It was supposed to be a good luck charm of some kind. I had hoped it would help that poor little girl to survive a life with such a horrible man as her male role model.

I turned towards the sound of the language and saw a young woman with sandy brown hair holding a phone up to her ear. She was leaning against the side of the courtroom building, and was clearly frustrated.

Her eyes were golden.

Just like that little girl.

I didn't move as she continued to talk to whoever was on the other end of the line. It had to be her. The little girl. Ellie was her name. She would be in her mid-twenties by now. It was extremely possible that somehow, I'd managed to find the exact same girl as before.

Suddenly my thoughts turned to Mr. Lea. He'd mentioned something about his best friend, named Ellie, who had gold eyes and lost both her parents to a robbery when she was about four. Ellie Elliot, was her name.

Dr. Elliot was the man who'd taken care of Tifa when I brought her to that miniscule town near the outskirts of Hallow Bastion.

Maybe...

"Ugh! Look, I have to go, alright?" She switched suddenly into English. "Because I have a court case. Dad, they kinda need their lawyer present for trial. Sorry I can't make it. I'll talk to you some other time. Bye!" I wanted to laugh at how irritated she sounded. But I kept my mouth shut as the woman tried to dash by me and go into the courtroom.

I say try, because she tripped on the stairs before she could get past me and nearly fell flat on her face. Instinctively, I reached down and caught her before she could get hurt on the concrete stairs. That would have been bad.

"Thank you," the woman said as I lifted her up. She brushed the dust off her clothes and looked up at me. Her eyes widened. "You... You're..."

"Cloud Strife. Nice to meet you," I said as calmly as I could.

"I know that," she snapped. Then she thought about her tone and gasped. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snapped at you..." She let out a sigh, then ran a hand through her short hair.

"It's fine, Miss...?"

"Um... Elliot. Ellie Elliot. I'm a defense lawyer," the woman said. I knew that had to be her then. Axel had told me about her. She seemed to be good at her job, even if she was young. I smiled, realizing that I may not have to go talk to Angeal after all.

"I've heard about you," I said, thinking of an infamous court case that she had been a participant in. It had to do with a murderer, and she was the one who got him convicted. It was all over the news.

"You have?" Ellie blushed slightly and looked away. "Please tell me it wasn't Axel Lea who talked about me." So she knew that I was her friend's boss. I couldn't help but find that interesting.

But I didn't say anything to her about that. Instead, I reached into the inside pocket of my coat and pulled out a business card. There was no point in just letting this girl go. I handed it to her, which seemed to completely befuddle her mind, and said, "I need a lawyer. Mr. Lea says you're good. Please consider it."

Then I walked away before she could say anything else.

Two days later, I got a call from the woman saying she was interested in the job.

I decided then that I was going to hire her.

* * *

><p>Riku- Age 24<p>

"Riku, I have to go," Ellie muttered. She tried to pull away from me, but I kept my arms tight around her body though, because I didn't want her to leave. She was so warm, and cuddly, and it was nice to have someone to cling to. Yeah, she had to got to work because I'd heard her boss was strict, but that just made me want to hold her closer.

It bugged me how much her boss, Cloud Strife, made her work all the time. Everyday. From eight to five. Sometimes later. It was like he wanted something more from her. Or he was already getting something more from her. Which was annoying as hell. Ellie was mine.

"Hm... Five more minutes," I decided to say, snuggling closer to her. She fit so perfectly into my body.

"I have work."

"I know."

"Will you let me go then?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I don't want to."

"You're such a baby."

"Yup. I am." I finally let go of her body, but didn't let her move away. Instead, I just pushed her down and kissed her, trying to get her to forget about work completely. I should have known it wouldn't work. Ellie was too focused on certain things; work being one of them. If only she hadn't been hired by that weirdo she met on the street. Er... in front of the courthouse.

Sure, Axel worked for this guy, and I'd heard he was the richest guy in the world, but that didn't stop him from being weird for basically hiring Ellie on the street.

I couldn't imagine working for him.

"Get off me, please," Ellie said somewhat harshly when I pulled away for air. I didn't want to, but sadly every time Ellie gets that tone, it means she's about to attack. I didn't feel like being a victim.

"Fine, fine," I muttered, rolling onto the other half of the bed. "Go to work. Leave me all alone in this boring apartment without anything to do."

"You could get a job too."

"Too much effort."

I could just see Ellie roll her eyes as she slid off the bed and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. It was almost like she lived with me. But she didn't. Sadly.

* * *

><p>"I want to take you out for lunch today," I said into the phone, grinning. Now was the perfect chance to see where Ellie worked, and maybe meet her boss. Of course, this meant I also had to deal with Axel for a bit, but I could deal with that. Maybe.<p>

Ellie's response was not exactly what I was hoping for.

_"Don't know if I can leave. I have a lot of work to do because one of our employees just quit and was rude enough not to give notice, so I have to find a way to legally get back at him so he won't do it again, but I don't think we can, and I just have a ton of things to do." _It was an answer I'd been expecting, but definitely not one I wanted to hear.

"Come on, Ellie," I whined, making sure that no one was around to hear me sound so pathetic. "I almost never get to see you anymore. I'm sure that a short break won't harm your work."

_"That's because you don't know what I do."_

"Because you don't tell me."

_"Because every time I try you end up making out with me."_

"Well, can't argue with that." I knew she was shaking her head, so I decided that it was time to actually convince her to go to lunch with me. "I can't make out with you at a restaurant though, so you can talk to me about it there. Then I'll know exactly how much pain you're going through on a daily basis." Ellie hated talking about her personal life, and "how much pain" she was in. I probably shouldn't have said that...

_"I would rather make out. But I guess it won't be that big of a deal to take a little break... I could use getting away from the insane people who work here for a little bit."_

"Excellent. I'm already at your work, so hurry up and get your butt down here." The loud crash on the other side of the phone indicated that Ellie dropped something, and I couldn't help but grin at that. She could be so funny sometimes.

_"You're here? How-"_

"No questions. Just come down to the main floor. I'm waiting." Before Ellie could protest, or say anything for that matter, I hung up the phone and grinned at it. The lobby at her work was certainly interesting. I was hoping that I might run into her boss at one point. Give him a piece of my mind...

"You're Ellie's boyfriend?" I looked over and saw a very interesting little man standing across the lobby from me. Well, little to me. I guessed he was about average height for most people, but he had really blue eyes, bluer than Sora's, and spikey blond hair. Not exactly what you'd expect from an old guy. Okay, not old. He was probably only in his forties, but that can be considered old, right?

"Yeah. I am. Who are you?" I asked as he walked over to me. "Do you work with her or something." The man grinned.

"You could say that. It's nice of you to come pick her up for lunch. She works too hard."

"She does. Though, I think it might be because of her... your, I guess, boss."

"I doubt that. He doesn't like to have her work her long past five, and she's not supposed to come in until nine. No one gets why she does."

I nearly dropped the phone that was still in my hand when he said this. In a way, Ellie had lied to me, by not telling me it was her who wanted to be here the whole time. Unless this guy was messing with my head, which was extremely possible. He looked like the kind who would do that.

"Well, I wouldn't know," I said quietly. "She doesn't really talk to me that much."

"Does that bug you?"

"A little." I shook my head. "Wait, why am I telling you this? It's none of your business!"

The guy laughed and began heading over to the stairs, saying, "You're right. It is none of my business. Have fun taking Ellie out to lunch, and try to convince her to work less. It's not like I need her here as much as she thinks I do."

Okay, that wasn't weird at all. As the strange man walked through a door that I assumed led to back stairs which probably led upstairs, I saw Ellie walk out of the same door. Her head turned to follow the odd man, before she continued towards me, looking confused.

"Hey," I called out to her, hoping that she wouldn't notice how weirded out I was.

"Hey," she answered back. "Um... I have a question for you."

"What?"

"Why were you just talking to my boss?"

_That was Cloud Strife?_ I couldn't help but think that there was no way that guy could be Cloud Strife. He was too friendly. Business guys were always jerks, right? But once my disbelief vanished, my eyes opened wide and I felt extremely embarrassed.

"Your boss? Mr. Strife? The owner of this company? That's who I was talking to?"

Ellie only rolled her eyes.

"You can be so stupid sometimes."

* * *

><p>A week later Axel came barging into my apartment. At first I didn't notice he was there, because Ellie and I were in my room, doing stuff that adults who date do, and I was having a wonderful time. Unfortunately, Axel decided that it was a good idea to break into my room during this time.<p>

You'd think he'd know that when Ellie and I are locked in a bedroom that he shouldn't come in, being all _geniusy_ and what not, but of course not. I figured that he actually just wanted to piss me off. Of course, Ellie wasn't happy at all with him when he came in.

"Get the fuck out of here!" She nearly screamed, grabbing the pillow next to my head before she threw it at Axel. I was kind surprised when Ellie did that, but didn't really have long to think about it before she leaned back down to kiss me. God I love her.

"Sorry Ellie, but I have to talk to the stupid thing you're... on top of." Axel's voice was filled with disgust. I really wished he would go away. Ellie just couldn't ignore what he wanted when he was around. Well, sometimes she could, but not often. Instead of just continuing what we were doing, Ellie sighed and climbed off me, glaring at Axel.

I was surprised that she wasn't embarrassed, glaring at him in only her bra and a pair of shorts. Well, I guess that the two of them have known each other forever. She clearly didn't care.

"What?" I snapped. "What the hell could be so important that you had to break in here."

"Tomorrow. Five o'clock. Mr. Boss-man wants to hire you as our new head accountant, since the old one randomly quit. Be at the office or I'll come and murder you."

I really didn't know what to think of that. Nor did I know what to say. Ellie, however, did have something to say.

"You couldn't just call and tell Riku that?"

"Nope," Axel smirked. "This is more fun." His eyes narrowed when he looked at me, then he was gone, like some kind of freak. Which he was. Always had been, and always will be. I let out a laugh once he was gone.

"Well, looks like I'm going to finally get a job." I turned to Ellie. "Happy now?" Her initial response was to push me back down on the bed and continue where she left off.

"Very." I only smirked. Having a job would be interesting. And I would get to be with Ellie a lot more. Even though I couldn't figure out why Mr. Strife would want to hire me. I'd kinda made an idiot out of myself.

Well, I guess it wasn't that important.

* * *

><p>Sora- Age 23<p>

"Well, I saw Riku for the first time today."

"Didn't we see him in the coffee shop?"

"Yeah, but I actually talked to him for the first time. He still angers me."

"What now?"

"He was so surprised to see me that he didn't even talk. He just blinked a few times then asked Ellie if she could see me sitting there."

"Yeah...?"

"She told him he was an idiot and went back down to her floor. Riku followed her."

I couldn't tell if this was a huge deal, or if Kairi was just overreacting. Yeah, it must have been annoying for Riku to just ditch Kairi to go talk to his... girlfriend, which I guess is what Ellie was to Riku. Maybe. I'd never actually met her, though she and Kairi had become really good friends since the day they met.

At first, when Kairi came home from work on Ellie's first day, I thought shew as going to kill the poor girl we'd never met before. And only because she'd seen Riku kiss her in the coffee shop not long after we moved here.

That had been an interesting day.

"Well, we haven't exactly talked to Riku since he... vanished," I said slowly. "He probably wasn't expecting us move here, or for you to work with his girlfriend. He is able to live without us, you know." It hurt me that he didn't talk to me at all for all those years that he refused to talk to us. You know, just vanished off the face of the earth.

"It pisses me off!" It wasn't often that I saw Kairi mad. "He could have at least said hi! Not just run after Ellie. It's like she has him on a leash or something."

"Yeah. Ellie definitely has him on a leash."

"You've never met her before. You don't know what she's like. If you would just-"

"Kairi?"

"What?"

"If you have an issue with Riku, tell it to his face." There were times when Kairi was definitely smarter than me, but then there are other times when I wondered how she survived on her own. She tended to complain a lot about the stupidest things. Though, I guess that's because she's a girl. Riku told me back in high school that girls were whiny and annoying.

I never understood why he said that to me.

"Fine," Kairi muttered. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. You come with me." I sighed before smiling over at Kairi.

"What's wrong? Can't deal with Riku by yourself."

Kairi blushed and leaned against me. "I'm scared to. He seems to have changed a lot. He's not the Riku I used to know, and that kinda scares me. Will you please come with me tomorrow and help me yell at him?"

"I don't think your boss will appreciate me just showing up tomorrow."

"Why not? Riku did it before he got hired."

I thought about it for a second. It would be kinda cool to see Riku again. "Alright. I'll come with you tomorrow." I hoped this would be an interesting experience.

* * *

><p>It wasn't very interesting. More... annoying. Like someone was trying to scratch their nails on a chalk board but were failing miserably. Painful and annoying. For some reason Riku was the first person to greet us. I say 'for some reason' because I had no idea why he would do that after completely ditching us. He pretended like nothing had happened, and the only thing different was that we were older.<p>

Oh, and he'd gotten laid.

Lucky bastard.

He kinda apologized, but not really. It was more like he didn't feel like he needed to apologize for anything, and that this was all my fault for some reason. Or, that's what it seemed like to me.

I guess the only good thing that happened is I got to meet Ellie.

She didn't like me.

Kairi seemed surprised when Ellie greeted me, and I started talking to her, but her eyes narrowed and she started being really cold to me after that. When Kairi asked her why, she exchanged a glance with Riku, who shrugged, and I guessed then that she didn't like me for taking Kairi away from Riku. That's why he left, after all.

Or, I think that's why he left. I'm not really sure anymore.

So, maybe that's not the good thing. I mean, yeah I got to figure out why Riku had become so happy and what not – because Ellie really seemed to make him happy – but the best part is that I got hired.

Let me tell you something; Axel Lea is strange. I mean, worse than strange. Kairi had told me about him, but I didn't think he was as weird, or obsessive as he actually was. You'd think that a guy like him would be socially awkward and haughty, but no. He was actually like Riku. But smarter. And gay.

But that's not the point. After Kairi, Riku, and Ellie had to start work, Axel asked me if I was working anywhere yet. I told him no, because that was the truth, and he just grinned, then told me to come with him. I met with Mr. Strife, and apparently got one of the weirdest jobs in the world. That's how Axel described it to me anyway.

I guess it doesn't really matter to me though. Kairi became happy again, we started talking to Riku, Ellie warmed up to me a little bit, I had to avoid Axel's advances for a little while because according to Ellie I reminded him of the guy he actually liked, and living in Radiant Garden didn't seem to be that bad anymore.

Only... I didn't want to stay there. It was nice, but not my home. I didn't know how to tell this to Kairi. Or to Riku. They didn't need to know that as soon as I got my teaching degree I would be moving back to Destiny Island. Well, I guess Kairi needed to know, but...

I guess that's the best way to describe how I got a job? I don't really know, to be perfectly honest. It was random, out of place, and completely messed up.

But what part about working for Cloud Strife isn't messed up?


	8. Chapter 8

**So, this was supposed to be two separate chapters, then I decided that was a stupid idea and I made it into one chapter. Don't know why I'm telling you this, but oh well. **

**The writing... well, I don't like it. But I'm too lazy and too caught up with my original series (I'm on book three now) to do anything about it. Sorry.**

**I hope you enjoy this, and it's in the past. Kinda. It starts in the past, then goes farther back into the past. **

**Enjoy, review, and I'll see you next week!**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>"Do you have something you want to say?"<p>

"Well, yeah but..."

"But what?"

"Well, I don't know if this is exactly the best time to talk about it."

"What is it?"

"..."

"Cloud, just say it."

"Um... I was just wondering if you... you know, knew what you wanted to name him."

"You didn't want to ask that? This is the perfect time to talk about it! Why would you think it wouldn't be?"

"You just seemed so peaceful, kinda motherly like... It was a little bit awkward..."

"You're so funny."

"I am not."

"Uh-huh."

"Fine, well, if this is the perfect time..."

"..."

"I thought I was the unsociable one."

"Shush, I'm thinking."

"Okay."

"Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to name him Roxas."

"Roxas?"

"Mhm."

"Any particular reasoning?"

"Um... no. Why would there be?"

"I don't know. You just looked kinda nostalgic for a second there, like the name means something to you. Does it?"

"No, of course not! I just like the name."

"... Okay."

"You don't like the name?"

"No, I do."

"Alright then, his name is Roxas."

"Yeah... Roxas."

The tiny baby resting in the new mother's arms squirmed a bit, his eyes shut tightly. Tifa reached down and stroked the baby's cheek, calming the newborn down, a soft look in her eyes. Next to her, a young man leaned over, smiling lightly.

"Welcome to the world, Roxas."

* * *

><p>The kitchen was a mess.<p>

As usual.

With ten people tromping in and out of the house all day, it would have been a surprise if my wonderful kitchen was _clean_. Dirty dishes littered almost every inch of the room. Cups, plates, silverware, and bowls were scattered on all surfaces of the kitchen. Most of them looked as though they'd been used days ago. _Many_ days ago.

Of course, the empty chip bags, half eaten meals and random cans that were scattered around didn't help with the mess.

But it didn't really matter to me. These people, who made my kitchen such a disaster, were my family. The people I loved. I would rather have the kitchen be a mess then have them not be here at all. It made me feel better to know that they were happy and full, rather than sad and hungry.

With a sigh, and slight laugh, I reached down to one of the cupboards and pulled out an apron, preparing myself for a cleaning spree. I figured that I should do this more often, but it just wasn't something that I could do all the time. Especially not now. As I wrapped the apron around my stomach, I couldn't help but feel a jump of joy at the sight of the small bump protruding from my stomach. The only physical sign that I was two months pregnant.

A smile graced my lips, and I started to try and tie the apron around my back, but the straps were taken from me by two cold hands and tied them tightly. Before I could say anything, or even really react to this gesture, those hands moved to my stomach, and pulled me back into a sturdy body. My smile widened.

"You look beautiful today," a deep voice whispered in my ear. I leaned back into the body, closing my eyes contently, and laughed quietly.

"Oh? How can you possibly tell? You haven't seen me from the front all day." I said this in a teasing way, but also with disappointment in my voice, like I was lightly scolding him. He'd been gone all day, taking off before I'd woken up, which wasn't unusual, but a little bit annoying. He clearly realized what I was trying to get across, and shifted so his forehead was pressed against the bit of my neck that was showing.

He kissed me there quickly, then said, "I don't need to see you to know you look gorgeous."

I pressed my cheek against the head next to me, and I placed my hands over his. "You're so cheesy, Zack." Even though I said this, every word he was saying made my heart jump a little bit, and all I wanted to do was turn around and kiss him.

"I'm not cheesy!" Zack protested, pulling away from me slightly. "You just don't understand my charm." I let go of his hands and turned around to face him, admiring the blue eyes I loved so much, and the smile that always made my day.

"But I was right. You are beautiful today." He leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips. "Not that it would matter. I'd still love you anyway." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again, not caring that we were in the middle of the kitchen. The place where everyone walked through at least once a day.

If anyone came in, they would just have to deal with the fact that the two of us were married, and didn't get to see each other much at the moment.

"Ew! Get a room you two!"

I smiled, wondering why someone had to show up now. I pulled away from Zack, even though it was clear he didn't want to let me. To keep him from kissing me, I placed a hand over his mouth, and gave him a warning look. Then, I glanced over Zack's shoulder to see who was there, and I spotted a young girl standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her black hair was pulled back into a tiny pony tail, and the bandana on her forehead was a dark contrast to her pale skin.

Yuffie crossed her arms in a disapproving way, and raised her eyebrows when Zack didn't move away from me at all. "Seriously guys, you disgust me."

"Sorry Yuffie," I said as I pushed my husband away from me. "Zack was just about to leave, okay?" I didn't want him to leave, of course, but it wasn't the best idea to act extremely romantic in front of a child. It could scar her for life. Not that this town didn't do that anyway. I smiled up at Zack, trying to silently let him know my thoughts, but he just sighed.

"Actually," Zack said, placing his arms on my shoulders, "getting a room doesn't sound like a bad idea." I slapped Zack in the chest as Yuffie let out an "ew" of disgust, most likely shaking her head at strange images Barret had probably put in her head. I looked up at Zack, who was grinning innocently at me. "What?"

"She's thirteen. Stop being so perverted!" I hissed, though I really just wanted to laugh at the young teen's reaction. Zack's grin turned into an actual smile, and he turned around slightly to make sure Yuffie had run off, which she had, before leaning down again and kissing me. The touch of his lips sent a warm shiver throughout my body, and his once cold hands seemed to be just a bit warmer now.

All of these feelings made me extremely happy.

I kissed him back eagerly, glad that Yuffie was no longer in the room. There was a huge chance that no one else would walk in now. Most of the others were out doing something. Well, I hoped that was the case. I didn't actually know where everyone was. Even though I told them to tell me where they went, they never did.

"I'm not perverted," Zack mused once he had pulled away. I wrapped my arms around his back and buried my face in his chest. "I think I'm just acting like any man should around his wife."

"You're such a loser." Zack started laughing, his blue eyes scanning the disgusting room with interest. I sighed and pulled away. "Yes, I'm going to clean it, if you ever let me," I accused, shoving him playfully in the chest, and he just smiled.

"Alrighty then. But make sure you don't do too much! The doctor said you need to rest and take it easy so that you don't get sick..." He trailed off, looking down at my stomach with a serene face. "Anyway, I'm going to make sure Yuffie comes back to help you."

I nodded at him, pulling his face to mine to kiss him again. When Zack was able to speak once more, there was a slight jumpiness to his voice,

"I gotta go. Things to do, people to see, Seifer to terroriz-"

"Zack! Aerith!" Yuffie's scared voice broke through Zack's funny sentence, and we both immediately looked over to the door. The teen was standing there, eyes wide, face paler than normal, and a streak of blood plastered on her cheek.

Immediately I pushed past Zack towards Yuffie, fear rising through my very being. I dearly hoped that nothing very bad had happened. "What's wrong, sweetie? Did something happen? Are you alright?" I asked, leaning down to brush a black lock of hair out of the girl's face, making sure the blood wasn't from her.

Shaking her head, Yuffie's eyes filled with tears, "I'm fine," she practically shrieked, "but Vince found a girl, and she looks like she's about to die!" Immediately, Zack rushed past the two of us and headed to another room in the house, most likely Vincent's, and probably where the girl was going to be.

"Alright, Yuffie," I said quietly, taking the girls hands in my own, "calm down and tell me what happened."

The girl looked down at her feet.

"I was outside, right after Zack was being weird, when I saw Vincent coming down the walkway carrying a girl. At first I thought it was someone from Seifer's gang, and Vince had, you know, beat them up or something and was holding them hostage-" If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have laughed at Yuffie's strange guess.

Yes, we were considered by law, a gang, with Zack as the leader, but in reality, we were more of a family for those who have lost their way, or their home. Unfortunately, a lot of the people who lived with us tended to be in trouble with the law, so naturally we became targeted.

"-so I followed him to his room to see what was going on, and he told me to get out."

She took a deep breath, stifling the hiccups coming up. "I didn't want to and I made it past him, and this girl was laying on the bed. She was covered in blood, cuts, and she looks like she's gonna die," Yuffie sobbed, grabbing the top of my dress. "When Vince saw me he pushed me away and I came out to get you guys."

I pulled Yuffie into a hug and held her there while she cried. The poor little girl watched her family get murdered. Even though she lived in Hallow Bastion, she still hated the sight of blood, and people who got hurt. The sight of the girl Vincent brought home probably brought back memories that she didn't want to have. Things she didn't want to remember.

When she calmed down a little bit, I stood up again, and smiled down at her.

"Go to your room, okay? I'll bring you something to eat later." She nodded and wiped her tears away, before running off farther into the house. About that time, Zack came back into the kitchen, and shot me a look of horror. I wanted to know what was going on, so I asked, "Will she be okay? What happened?"

Zack sighed, then headed over to the kitchen table, sitting down on one of the empty seats. "I _think_ she'll be fine. Vincent said he saved her from some new members of Seifer's gang. She's beaten up pretty bad, and I think she's gone a while without eating." He sighed. "Why does this town do such horrible things to people?" I walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered. "She'll be fine."

I desperately hoped it was the truth.

* * *

><p>She still hadn't woken up. It had been a couple of hours since Vincent had brought her home, and I was beginning to get worried. I knew I shouldn't be, as it was better that she was sleeping, rather than being awake and feeling all that pain.<p>

Still, I decided she needed company for when she did wake up, which is why I was sitting in Vincent's dark room next to the bed where the young woman was sleeping. I had Yuffie cleaning up the kitchen with Rinoa, so I didn't have to worry about it. Or, I didn't have to worry about it until something was broken.

Which hopefully wouldn't happen with Rinoa supervising.

I could focus all my attention on making sure the sleeping woman wasn't disturbed while she slept. I wished I could turn on one of the lights, though. It was difficult to sew in the dark.

Finally, I heard stirring coming from the bed, and I looked over at the women, eyes wide. Her dark hair was long; much longer than you'd expect from someone living on the streets, and she was very pale, sickly, almost. When I first saw her, I thought she looked familiar, like someone I'd met before, but after awhile of sitting in the same room as her, I discovered that that wasn't the case.

She was definitely too young for that.

When her eyes opened, and she looked over at me, I was surprised to see that they were red, like the color of the blood I'd wiped off her body not long ago. It was slightly eerie. Especially since they had a very dead look to them. She saw me, but didn't seem to react to my presence, like she didn't actually know I was there.

Slightly worried, I put my sewing down and smiled. "Hello," I called out quietly. Her eyes focused on me. "My name's Aerith. What's yours?" She stared at me blankly for a moment, and I thought she didn't understand what I was saying. But when she glanced down at her hands, clenching the blanket tightly, I figured that she just couldn't bring herself to speak.

That was common in Hallow Bastion.

Rinoa was like that when she first came to us as well. She began speaking a few years back, but she still didn't talk much at all. I was afraid that was going to happen to this young girl too. She looked like she was dead inside.

"Well, for now you don't have to talk if you don't want to," I said slowly. "None of us here will hurt you. We're like a family, and if Vincent thought you were worthy of being brought back to us, then you're in my family now." Vincent didn't trust many people, and he rarely came home. For him to see something in this young woman was amazing, and I didn't want to doubt him.

She didn't respond, just looking down at her hands.

I felt slightly awkward for a minute, hoping that maybe she would say something now that she knew I wasn't going to hurt her at all. Of course, she probably didn't trust me at all.

Finally, I sighed. "Alright, well I need to go check up on the rest of the people living here. I'll bring you something to eat and drink in a few minutes, alright?" Again, it was like she didn't hear me speaking. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to this girl that made her be so silent.

It became my new goal to make sure she would talk soon.

* * *

><p>Three days after the young woman was brought to us, she wrote down her name. I was surprised at how soon it was, but everyone healed at their own pace.<p>

No one else was home when she came up to me, holding a pad of paper and a pen, looking embarrassed. The fact that she had gotten out of bed was like a miracle to me, even though she had to sit down almost as soon as she entered the room because she was in that much pain. Her eyes had a small glimmer of recognition in them now, even though they were still mostly dead.

When she sat next to me, I smiled and asked her how she was. She never answered me, instead showing me that pad of paper.

_My name's Tifa, _it said. _I'm sorry I haven't talked at all. I don't seem to be able to._

"It's alright, Tifa," I replied. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. I understand." She stared at me blankly, then began writing again.

_What is this place? Why are all of you living here?_

I wasn't surprised that this was the first thing she asked. Curious about the new girl Vincent brought in, almost every person living here had gone to see her.

"My husband and I bought this house not long after we got married, and soon, his friend Vincent, the man who found you, decided he was going to live here. Before long, people who have been hurt somehow were brought here by both my husband and Vincent, and eventually, they just all started living here. It's become their home," I explained calmly, working on my sewing again. "Of course, the problem with bringing a lot of people with issues in to live with you is that you tend to get in trouble with the law. The police consider us a gang now." I didn't know if it was necessary to tell her that, but I figured I might as well get it all out right then so that she could decide if she wanted to live with us or not.

About halfway through my explanation, she began to scribble something on her pad again. When I was finished talking, she showed it to me immediately.

_Which one is your husband? How long have you lived here? _

"My husband is Zack, the one who talked to you after me yesterday, and I've lived here for about eight years now, since I was about seventeen." There was no point in me being ashamed about dropping out of high school to get married. I didn't have much of a future anyway, being born and raised in Hallow Bastion. Besides, Zack was a good man. I had decided that it would have been pointless to wait until I was older to marry him.

Tifa considered this for a moment, then began to write again. Slowly, I reached over and grabbed her pencil.

"Before you ask me any more questions, I'd like to ask you some," I said calmly. She nodded, waiting for me to talk. "How old are you?"

_18._

So young... I couldn't believe that someone who had just begun adult hood was here now. "Where are you from?"

_Radiant Garden._

"Why did you come here?"

She was about to write the answer, then paused, hand trembling. It was clear to me that she didn't want to talk about what happened to her that made her move all the way from Radiant Garden to here. Move from one of the richest, most well off cities, to this slum. The reason must have been a serious one.

"Alright, you don't have to answer that one if you don't want to," I said slowly, hoping that she would continue to talk to me after that. Her pen fell from her hand after I said that, almost as if she could no longer keep it there. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, then reached down and grabbed the pen again.

_I'm fine,_ she wrote. _Just tired. That's all._

"Well, that's no good! It's the middle of the day. I think you need tea." Tea was the answer to everything. Always had been, and always will be. Zack always made fun of my addiction to the drink, but I honestly thought he was missing out on quite a few things by _not_ drinking it. Well, health wise, anyway. I always felt much better after a hot cup of tea, no matter how down I felt, and I was sure this girl would be the same.

She was writing something when I left the room, so she ended up following me so she could show me what she wrote.

_I'm fine. I don't need tea. You don't need to rush yourself to do anything._

She looked embarrassed when she showed this to me. I had a feeling this girl didn't like people doing things for her. But I loved to spoil people.

"Well, I'm making myself some anyway, so I figured you should get some sugar into your blood. You haven't eaten much since you've come here." Though we left a tray of food for her everyday, she only ate a little bit, leaving the rest for some of the people living here to scarf down. I wanted to scold them for eating her food, but the stuff was scarce here. They needed it just as much as she did.

_Boy or girl?_

She showed this to me as I was boiling the water. For a minute I didn't understand what she was talking about, but then I remembered that I was pregnant. Hard thing to forget, and I managed to do it. Zack would definitely have a field day with this one.

"I don't know. I'm not far along enough for them to be able to check, and even then I want to wait until the day they're born." After I said that, she nodded and put the pad down, before going to sit on one of the kitchen chairs. I guessed that she didn't want to talk anymore. That was fine with me.

* * *

><p>"Aerith, is Tifa sick?" Yuffie asked me one day, about two weeks after Tifa had communicated with me for the first time. The young women seemed to be a bit better, but also had moments where Zack and I thought she was going to try and do something rash. Yuffie was right to ask if she was sick. Even though the girl clearly meant physically, rather than emotionally.<p>

I sighed and sat down next to the girl at the table, handing her a plate of food that served as her lunch.

"I don't know. I think she'll be fine, but it's going to take a while," I replied. There was no use lying to the girl. She would just get the answer she wanted from Vincent or Barret. The two of them didn't seem to understand the whole idea of keeping the young ones ignorant.

Not that any child in Hallow Bastion could be called ignorant.

"So, she's not gonna die?"

"Of course not! Where did you ever get that idea?"

"I heard Vince and Zack talking about how many injuries she had, and that she lost a lot of blood, and that she might have physical damage because of how little she ate," Yuffie replied, picking at her food. "I hope she'll be fine. I like her."

Yuffie and Tifa did seem to have a lot to talk about. Well, Yuffie did all the talking while Tifa wrote anything and everything she wanted to say. It was slightly entertaining to listen to, getting only one side of the conversation. It was like listening to someone talking on the phone, only the other person is there as well.

Zack thought it was just annoying. But he thought most things that had to do with Tifa were annoying, for some strange reason. He liked her. That much was obvious, and yet he always had something to say about her. I figured he was just worried about her staying with us. For one thing, there was one more person living with us and that meant we needed more supplies, but she was also smart, and we knew that. Well educated, pretty, and observant. She shouldn't live down here in this place.

Zack wanted to get her out of this world.

"She's a nice girl," I said slowly, unsure of what I should really say. "I hope that she feels better soon."

"Me too."

* * *

><p>Zack definitely outdid himself this time. And it wasn't a good thing. I never liked dealing with bandages, so when he came into our room that evening, covered in blood, I nearly fainted. He was going to be the death of me. There was no doubting that.<p>

Most of the blood, I discovered, wasn't actually his, but there were a few cuts that sullied his body.

I decided I wasn't going to be gentle with him.

"Ow! Shit, Aerith, that really hurts," he whined, flinching as I cleaned his wounds. "Think you could be a little bit nicer? I didn't mean to get caught by those thugs. They jumped me."

"Well, why were you out so late?" I queried. "You _said_ you were going to be home by seven. It's almost midnight." He'd always had this problem. Horrible with time. I actually found this out the first time he took me to dinner. He told me he'd pick me up early, around five, and didn't show up until nine. My dad told me he was no good and I should stay away from him, but he honestly thought it was earlier.

He spent the rest of the night apologizing, and only shut up about it when I kissed him. I always found it entertaining that our first kiss was me trying to get him to stop tell me sorry.

"I lost track of time. One minute, it was light out, and the next, I was getting surrounded by weirdos in a dark alley," he said, attempting to turn around and face me. I didn't want to look at his face at that moment, so I grabbed his shoulders and held him in place.

"Oh. Wonderful excuse. And what were you doing the entire time you were out?"

"Looking for flowers."

He was looking for flowers. Of course. That was always his excuse when he didn't want me to know something. And usually, when he used that excuse, he had come home injured.

"Zack, we're going to be parents soon. You can't come home covered in blood anymore," I whispered. I didn't want him to get hurt anymore. It just wasn't right for him to be in pain, and to be scared for his life most of the time. Scared for my life. He wouldn't even let me go out of the house very often anymore. Whenever I tried, he would get mad at me.

And yell.

He never yelled at me.

"I know. I'm sorry." He was so cute when he was sincere. It was nearly impossible to not forgive him.

"What are you going to do to make it up to me?"

That was when he actually turned around and kissed me lightly. "I don't know. What do you want me to do?" He asked in a whisper. There was so much implied there that I was glad Yuffie had gone to be hours before. She always had a knack for coming into the same room as me and Zack when we were being intimate.

"I don't care. But you came home hours after you said you would, injured. You owe me a lot," I answered after a minute. He waited for me to say more, for me to give him his punishment. I finally told him. "I want you to stop being paranoid, and let me leave the house sometimes."

He pulled away and stood up in an instant.

"No!" He shouted, paling.

"Why not?"

"Because it's fucking dangerous out there! You could easily get hurt, or killed, and I can't..." He looked away from me.

"You didn't make me stay inside before." I already knew the reason why he was so insistent on me being inside. It was quite obvious by the way he acted around me now, but I wanted to hear it from him. I didn't want to assume anything. "What changed?"

"You! You... you're pregnant now." His voice trailed down to a whisper. "I don't want you to become injured, and lose the baby. I want there to be proof of how much I love you, and I want everyone to see that."

I stood up as well, smiling. "I'm not going to lose the baby, Zack. It's not dangerous out there during the day. I want to go outside and breath fresh air. See the sun."

He pulled me into a hug. "I know. He'll be fine, but I can't even imagine losing him."

"Him? It's a boy is it?"

"Yup. He's a boy. I just know it."

The tension in the air disappeared in an instant as we discussed this.

"Well, I'm going to have to think of names, aren't I?" I thought about this for a moment, and then laughed. "That's what you're payback will be. I get to name him." Zack wasn't happy with me saying this, and yet, he seemed to like the idea better than me going outside.

"Fine. What do you want to name him?"

I smiled, then reached up to kiss him. "I don't know," I whispered. "I'll have to think about it, won't I?" This made me feel better. Sure, he was here, injured, but he wasn't dead. I wouldn't be able to go on if he were.

And now I had something to do for the next couple of weeks.

* * *

><p>There was something so magical about having everyone together for dinner. It was loud, and fights broke out constantly, sometimes leading to people leaving angrily, but I still loved them all. All of my family coming together and helping eating dinner together. It didn't happen very often, mind you, but when it did happen, I felt euphoric.<p>

Sometimes, when I discovered that no one was going to be out late, even Vincent, I would clean the entire house just for the occasion.

But cleaning the house when you're fifteen weeks pregnant is anything but easy.

So I had Tifa help me.

She still didn't talk, unfortunately, but that was to be expected. She got to know more people though, and was more active than before, so that was good. I could see her slowly come alive again. Which, of course, was all I really wanted for her. The only thing that I didn't approve of was her daily sparing ritual with Zack and Vincent. The two of them seemed determined to teach her how to fight, and she seemed determined to learn how.

The notion of that sweet girl becoming a dangerous fighter was not an idea I liked, but what could I do?

Today, while I was cleaning the room, Tifa listened to me babble on and on about things going on. She was a very good listener. Much better than Yuffie, but that was probably because she couldn't say anything back without having to write it.

She didn't seem to mind that much, and she always smiled at me when I asked her how she was doing.

That meant all was well.

"I can't wait until everything is clean," I told her, sitting down on the now empty couch. I was already exhausted. "We can take a break now. I want to be able to hear your thoughts on everything that has been going on. We haven't talked recently. Not that you talk, but you do write, I guess." There was so much adrenaline going through me at the moment. I couldn't help but be excited and talkative.

Zack always told me that my inability to shut up at times was one of the reasons he fell in love with me.

Tifa's shoulders shook as I talked, like she was laughing. Then she searched for her notepad, which I confiscated not long before we started cleaning. When she found it, she began scribbling. She'd gotten really fast at writing in the past few weeks.

_I don't really know what to think about what's been going on. This place is so different than where I grew up. People here actually seem to like each other, and no one seems to care that I'm not exactly the happiest person around. Zack and Vince are also really nice to help me learn how to take care of myself._

Vince? The only person who was allowed to call Vincent, "Vince," was Yuffie, and that's because he saw her as a little sister. I figured that he took Tifa in as one now too. That was good. She was fitting in here.

_Everyone's also kinda weird in some ways. I don't know how to explain it, but it's almost as __if a lot of stuff has been going on. I've been told that this isn't a good place to live, which I figured out when I was on the streets, but I didn't realize it had affected this many people._

The naivety of some people made me sad. It wasn't her fault that she was naïve, of course, and I wished that she would stay that way, but it was still hard to hear.

"Hallow Bastion...," I began slowly, "well, it's a very disastrous place. People who are born here long to get out, but it sucks the life out of you. The darkness drives people insane. The lack of resources, shops, and money keeps people from leaving without a lot of trouble on their hands. Anyone and everyone who is here gets caught in the never ending spiral." I thought about my parents for a moment. How they were born here as well, and wanted to try and leave, but never managed to. And Zack. He came here when he was a junior in high school thanks to his mother, and had never been able to get out since.

Vincent too. Though he didn't talk much about his life, it was clear that he had been here for most of it.

None of us could get out.

_Is that why Zack keeps telling me I should leave?_

I smiled, and nodded. "He wants you to get out of here before you're caught too. You didn't grow up here. You can escape."

_No. I can't._ Was all she wrote. I didn't question why she couldn't. I probably wouldn't have gotten an answer if I had. She had her reasons for coming here, and those reasons were obviously something I could never understand.

And I didn't really want to.

* * *

><p>"Aerith! Zack won't give me back my fork!"<p>

"Well, just eat with your hands."

"Ew! No!"

"Why not?"

"Because that's _gross!_"

We all laughed at the banter going on at the far end of the table, completely used to it. Even Tifa and Vincent seemed to be completely amused by what was going on, even though one had never seen it before, and the other never showed his emotions. Zack and Yuffie always got into an argument when we had dinner together.

They were like the siblings that they could both never have.

"Zack, be nice and give her back her fork. She needs to eat," I said in a warning tone. My husband grinned down at me, blue eyes shining with amusement.

"Aw, but it's so much fun to tease her," he said with a short laugh.

"You're so mean!"

I probably should have stopped the fight right then, but I figured that nothing bad could come of it. Besides, I'd been feeling a bit dizzy and tired lately, so I didn't want to get caught up in the madness. And I had other people to pay attention to.

For instance, Rinoa and Squall, who were acting strange around each other. I'd noticed this a little while before, but just now decided to pay attention to it. The were sitting next to each other at the end of the table that was far away from me, talking in a low whisper. They reminded me of how Zack and I were when we were dating.

Which made me feel extremely happy inside. The two of them had gone through so much pain. The fact that they'd found each other was exciting.

And then there was Tseng, who I didn't quite understand, and his friends, Cissnei and Rude. The three of them had known each other for a really long time. Even longer than I'd known Zack, or Vincent. They sometimes lived in their own little world, not really caring about anyone else. But they tried their best to live with us, and not make it so that I was being driven crazy by their nonsense at times.

They were the ones who were home the fewest.

Barret and Vincent were easy to deal with. One was loud, annoying, and told Yuffie things she didn't need to know, and the other didn't talk, and was pretty much second in command in the police's eyes.

Tifa seemed to fit in this family somehow. I didn't quite understand why, or what it was about her, but she didn't seem out of place at all.

But this was my family.

I loved them all.

"Zack! Seriously!"

With a sigh, I reached over and grabbed the fork from Zack's hand before he could cause the young girl any psychological damage. Not that she didn't have any already. But still, it wouldn't be good if the only thing she remembered about her childhood was Zack being a horrible person and teasing her all the time while I didn't do anything about it.

"Thank you, Aerith," Yuffie said, sticking her tongue out at Zack. He just winked at her, then turned to me, chuckling at her frustrated groan.

"Thanks for ruining my fun," he whispered loud enough for Yuffie to hear. "One more minute, and I would have been able to make that fork useable to me, and I could have eaten her brains."

_Oh Zack..._

I sighed and shook my head as Zack and Yuffie got into another bout of banter, that honestly was beginning to annoy me.

By that time, most people were done with their meal, so I decided I was going to collect plates and begin washing dishes. Maybe get Tifa to help me.

But I don't quite remember what happened right after that. I remember standing up, reaching for my half empty plate of food, and then my vision went fuzzy. I couldn't hear anything, and there was a massive pain in my stomach. Then I was hearing a voice. It was clear as day. It was saying goodbye to me.

After that, I was waking up in a hospital room.

* * *

><p>It was quiet when I woke. I didn't realize it was a hospital room at first, though. It was dark, so I couldn't see anything. The bed seemed to be different; softer and cleaner. I wasn't laying down completely, but I was still on a bed. As my eyes cleared, I could see the room better, and I noticed Zack sleeping in a chair on the other side of the room.<p>

At first I wondered why he was over there, as it would be a lot better if he was in the bed with me, and that's when I realized I wasn't at home. I pushed myself off the bed, feeling sick to my stomach, and looked around. Everything was spinning, making it difficult to think, and I collapsed on the bed.

The sound of me hitting the mattress immediately woke up my husband, who was by my side in an instant.

"Are you awake?" He asked me, brushing hair away from my face. "Do you feel sick? The doctor said you had medicine that might make you feel a little sick, but he won't tell me what happened, or why you collapsed."

"Zack?" I muttered, feeling exhausted.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." His voice was doing nothing but irritating me at the moment, even though I couldn't figure out why. I normally really liked the sound of his voice, and yet it was giving me a headache. There was nothing I wanted more than to just fall asleep again, but it was too light out to do such a thing. Way too light. "Where am I? What time is it?"

Zack let out a light laugh. "You tell me to shut up then ask me questions. What do you want me to do?"

"Answer the questions."

"Well," he began, voice turning into a whisper, "it's about one in the afternoon, and you're in the hospital. You fainted last night when you tried to clean up after dinner. There was blood, so I took you to the hospital."

I couldn't believe that he did that. The closest hospital was far away from Hallow Bastion, and it wasn't cheap. We didn't have the money, or the time. A little bit of blood was nothing to take me to the hospital for. So I asked him why he did this, why he took me to the hospital. Of course, my voice didn't seem to want to work too well, so I ended up slurring my words.

Zack didn't seem phased at all. "I know, I know. This hospital isn't exactly... cheap, but I thought you were going to die. I didn't really have time to think about how this would affect our finances. But Dr. Elliot said that he could do something to help us so we wouldn't have to pay too much. He's a nice guy." Dr. Elliot... I wondered where I'd heard that name before.

"So what's wrong with me?" I felt wrong. Like there was something missing.

"Don't know. He said it would be best to tell both of us at once," Zack said, looking at the door to the hospital room. "Speaking of which, I should probably go find him. I'll be right back." He left the room quickly, calling out to one of the nurses as he did.

After a moment of silence, he came back in with another man, who I honestly thought was terrifying. Almost as tall as Zack with short blond hair, brown eyes that seemed to be bored, and a daunting white overcoat. Thoughts of him hurting me flashed through me head, and I cringed under the blankets, unsure of why.

Zack said he was nice. I should trust him.

"Mr. Fair, I suggest you sit down," Dr. Elliot said quietly. Zack shot me a funny look before sitting on the bed next to me. "I don't have good news to tell you."

It was then I knew. I knew, but I didn't want to accept it. My eyes widened, and I grabbed Zack's hand. That was all I could think of doing. "My baby..." I muttered.

"Unfortunately," Dr. Elliot said. "It seems that your body has rejected the fetus. I don't know exactly why, but you've had what we call a spontaneous abortion, or a miscarriage..." He said something after that, but my mind was lost. My baby boy was gone. He wasn't there anymore. Everything that Zack and I wanted was gone. But that wasn't all that was said. Dr. Elliot went on to say that because of this miscarriage, I was no longer able to become pregnant.

When he said that, Zack pulled away from me. I glanced over at him. He was looking out the window, like he did whenever he was upset about something.

"I'll leave the two of you to talk. You have to stay here for a couple of days, and don't worry about the payment. I'm sure my wife would kill me if I charged you for something so... horrible." He nodded at the two of us, then left the room.

"Zack...?"

He didn't say anything to me before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>It was raining when Tifa came to visit me. I didn't realize that she would come, so it surprised me when the door opened to my room. At first I thought it was Zack, coming to talk for the first time since we'd found out about me being unable to get pregnant again. But it wasn't him. But he wasn't going to come, and I knew that.<p>

_Are you okay?_ Tifa asked me with her notepad. I didn't know what to say to her. I wasn't okay, but I also was. _My mom had a miscarriage a few years after I was born. It nearly tore our family apart because she was so upset about it._

Again, I didn't know what to say.

"Thank you for coming to see me," I decided to say after a moment. "You didn't have to if this brings back such horrible memories for you."

_No. I don't care. You guys have done so much for me already. I figured that I should come and see you right now._

She was sweet at times. And she meant the best, but I just wanted to be alone unless Zack was going to be with me. He was the one I wanted to talk to, and needed to talk to. But he probably never wanted to talk to me again. Which would make sense. And I wanted to tell Tifa that she should leave so I didn't have to talk to her, and yet I started crying instead.

"Why did he have to go?" I asked quietly through my tears. "He was my baby boy. He was going to be my son. He was going to be everything for me and Zack."

"What were you going to name him?" It was the first time I'd ever heard Tifa's voice. It was quiet, and sweet, and concerned. But somewhat hoarse. Like she hadn't spoken in a long time. A time much longer than I'd known her.

I turned to look at her again, and whispered, "Roxas. I was going to name my baby boy Roxas."

Tifa nodded. "That's a good name."

"Yeah. It is." After a few moments of silence, the door to the hospital room opened again, and this time, the one I wanted to see walked in. He nodded at Tifa, and in a silent way, telling her to get out of the room. She got up an left quickly, probably not wanting to get in the way of the conversation I was going to have with him.

"Zack...," I muttered.

"The doctor said that the uterine wall was too thin. That's why you lost the baby," he said slowly, walking over to me. "And now it's non-existent. So-"  
>"I'm sorry," I said, interrupting him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. I... I..."<p>

"Why are you apologizing?" Zack asked me. "It's not your fault." I began to cry when he said that.

"But I lost the baby. It's because I wasn't healthy enough. And now I can't have any more kids, and I don't want you to hate me..." I trailed off, just thinking about how horrible my life would be if I lost Zack, and if he hated me. Which no doubt, he would. He wanted this baby more than I did. He wanted to be a father, and now he couldn't be.

"Aerith, I'm not going to hate you. It's not your fault." He leaned down, and kissed me. "I could never hate you."

"But-"  
>"Please don't argue with me about my feelings. Yes. I wanted to have a kid, but if worst comes to worst, we can always adopt. That's what most of our family is right now anyway." He kissed me again, and I felt a little bit better. "And we can take Tifa in as our child now. She certainly needs a family."<p>

I giggled a little bit, even though I didn't feel like I should be laughing. I was too upset. For the next few hours, Zack lay on the bed next to me, holding me close to his body as we talked about everything that was going on. And that was enough for me right then.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yes, this is late. Yes, I still have a ton of messages to respond to. Yes, I haven't written chapter 10 yet so I don't know when I'll be posting it. Yes, I'm being slightly lazy. Yes, NaNo was hellish but I got 110,000ish words written. Yes, I am reaadicted to Birth By Sleep. Yes, I do have finals in three weeks. Yes, tonight is the opening night of Fiddler on the Roof and we're so not ready. Yes, I have to stand around and sell tickets to hundreds of people for an hour and a half.  
><strong>

**Yes, I know you guys don't care about any of that :P**

**But whatever. My friend basically challenged me to beat her in BBS. I'm at level 53. She's at level 65. Guess who won? Now I'm determined to beat her and have been playing it for the past three days almost non-stop. Note why this is late. Other than that my brain is dead. Physics is horrible and after writing two and a half novels in less than three months, my brain kinda went "oh hai there. Ima gonna go bai bai nowz." **

**Yes, my brain speaks in lolzcat. Don't judge him.**

**Anyway, onto the story. You'll be confused at first. Have fun trying to figure it out :P**

**Read, review (PLEASE) and I'll post a new chappie whenever my brain decides it wants to let me write about how Sora and Kairi end up dating. If that's the next chapter. I don't really remember where I put that one...**

**Have fun!**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>"Miss Jarbin, correct?" I glanced up at the man speaking to me. He was unnerving. Most cops in this city wore a uniform, clearly showing they were with the law, but this guy didn't wear one. He had a nice suit on; a well groomed one. His voice was smooth, like he was used to wooing people into giving him what he wanted.<p>

Pissed me off...

I nodded. "There is no need to call me 'Miss Jarbin,'" I said. "Just Anara will be fine."

"Anara?" The cop laughed quietly. "That's a rare name. I don't think I've heard it since I was a kid." My only reactions was to smile, hoping that this conversation would end soon.

"Yes. I know it's a rare name. You're not the only one who's said that to me."

"So, Anara," the cop said, completely changing the subject, "you know who I am, right? And why you're here?" I found it pointless for him to be asking me this. Of course I knew why I was here, and who he was. He was the one who arrested me in the first place.

"Detective Laguna, you told me that I'm here because I'm a suspect in the death of my neighbor, Serah." A completely ridiculous – no, bogus – charge. Anyone who'd actually met and had a conversation with me knew I was completely incapable of murdering anyone. Granted, almost no one really knew who I was. I liked to keep to myself.

"That's right. Miss Serah, your next door neighbor. I'm told you had quite a few arguments with her." Apparently telling your noisy next door neighbor to be quiet is considered an argument now. Does no one realize people have to sleep at night?

"I have to get up early. Her music always kept me up at night, so I would tell her to turn it down. The hard part of living in an apartment complex," I explained, pushing my hair out of my face. I checked my watch quickly, making sure that I still had time to be doing this. "How does that make me a suspect?"

Detective Laguna smiled, and sat down in the chair across the table from me. It was nicer than when he was standing, but still completely obvious he was trying to intimidate me. "So you didn't like her keeping you up at night?"

"Of course not." My answer was quick and simple. "Do you know anyone who likes to be kept up at night?"

"Are you happy that she's gone?"

"What?"

"Are you happy that she's gone?" Detective Laguna leaned forward, still smiling. "The fact that it's no longer noisy at night... it's nice, isn't it?"

I had to tread carefully here. Anything I said could be twisted around and used against me if they decided I was guilty. "I can't say that the silence at night isn't a relief, but I would never kill for that."

"Oh? You wouldn't? And how am I supposed to believe that?" The sound of his voice changed, becoming sharper and more accusing. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

"It's up to you to decide whether or not you believe me. I know I'm right. That's all that matters to me. I've learned that if the accused has no doubt in themselves, then people tend to believe them more."

"And where did you learn that? You work as a maid at a hotel," he growled, tensing as if to stand up again.

"I didn't always work there," was my answer. He did not seem happy to hear me say that, but I didn't care. This guy assumed he knew a lot about me, and that he had me all figured out. But he didn't know anything about me.

"Fine. So you've had other jobs." He actually stood up this time, and began pacing the room. He didn't seem to like the way I was dealing with this situation so calmly, which wasn't surprising to me. Cops and detectives were used to their charges being nervous. I had no reason to be nervous. I did nothing wrong.

Again, I checked my watch.

"Any other questions for me?" I asked after he said nothing for a time. "If not, I would like to be let go now, as you have no grounds to hold me. I came here willingly, and can leave willingly unless you're going to arrest me." He stopped pacing and glared at me.

"Of course I have other questions, Miss Jarbin," he snapped. "I was just thinking about which order I should ask them in." After a moment, he laughed. "I think I've figured it out."

"Alright then, ask away, Mr. Detective." The sarcasm in my voice annoyed him, and I was grateful for that. But he would not be able to say anything in retaliation, or I could quite easily get him kicked out for police brutality. I doubted he knew I was aware of this, but he wasn't going to take any chances. They never did.

"You moved here about five years ago, right?"

"Yes."

"Why did you come here?"

I crossed my arms and slouched in my seat. "What does that have to do with anything?" There was no reason for him to be asking me this, no reason at all for him to be digging into my past.

"Are you refusing to answer the question?"

"No, I'll answer. If you give me a good, logical reason why I should." In actuality, I wouldn't be answering it at all. Nothing he said could justify me telling him why I moved here.

"Fine. We'll move onto the next question," he muttered, sitting down again. I was making him nervous. I liked that. "You're friends with a cop working here, correct?"  
>I nodded. "Yes. Hana Suzuki. Why?"<p>

"How did the two of you meet? Were you arrested for anything."

It was ridiculous how stupid this guy could be. He would know if I was arrested or not, especially in this city. "No, the first month I lived here I was robbed and Hana happened to be the officer who came to investigate. We met again a few days later when a distressed shop owner called the police to get rid of a guy who was harassing one of the employees. She noticed me, said it couldn't be a coincidence, and we started talking." It was a simple story. A little more too it, but those details weren't important.

Detective Laguna didn't seem happy at all to hear this. He wanted to get me for something. He obviously didn't like me at all.

"Fine. A few more questions-"

"How much longer is this going to go on?" I interrupted, glancing down at my watch. "I have places I need to be today, so-"

"It'll take as long as I want it to take!"

"Fine. Can I call someone then? I need to explain that you're being difficult and ask her to do something for me."

"No. Not until we're done here," he said, opening the file I hadn't bothered to really notice before. I figured it was the case file, but instead, I was surprised to see my own face there. "Not much is known about you, Miss Jarbin. In fact, until about five years ago, you didn't seem to exist at all. The first records I have of you here is a bank opening on March fifteenth, 2013 in the name, Anara Jarbin. After that, it's only work records, medical bills, and proof that you're renting an apartment."

He slid the file over to me, a strange glint in his eye.

"What does this have to do with anything?" I asked, trying to keep calm. "In case you don't remember, I only moved here five years ago. It's not surprising that there isn't much on me in your records."

"That's what I thought at first." Detective Laguna smirked. "But then I got to thinking, 'what if she changed her name? What if she was someone else before she came here? What if she was some kind of criminal who hoped to start a new life in Midgar,' and when I thought about it more, I realized that criminals can't control themselves for long."

"I'm not a criminal," I said suddenly, sitting up. "I've never been convicted of anything, or even arrested. Not now, not five years ago, not for my entire life."

"So, instead of searching in the past, say, fifteen years, for records about Anara Jarbin, I looked back thirty years, and was very interested to see a death certificate for one, Anara Elliot, maiden name, Jarbin."

"Okay, I took a dead woman's name," I growled. "I have my reasons, and that doesn't mean I'm a-"

"Of course, attached to her death certificate was a news article about a robbery. Anara, her husband, and _eldest_ daughter were murdered in a robbery, but the youngest was found hiding in the closet of her parents bedroom." His voice had become excited. Too much so for this to be leading somewhere good. "I looked things up about this girl, and found out she was adopted, raised by a very famous doctor, went to an excellent boarding school, was almost killed in her senior year, but survived, much to everyone's surprise, went to school on a track scholarship and got her law degree, worked for Cloud Strife for quite a while, and eventually his son, and even fell in love and got married."

"So?" I didn't want to hear any of this. None of this mattered anymore. None of it should have mattered.

"Then she disappeared off the grid. She had everything going for her, and yet she vanished. And I ask you this, _Ellie_, what caused you to disappear?"

I wondered then if he knew how horrible he was. My past was something I wanted to hide from everyone, something I _needed_ to forget. I didn't want to forget it. I wanted to go back to it. But I couldn't. He probably thought I murdered someone, then ran away so that no one would catch me, but that was ridiculous.

I wasn't going to give him what he wanted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said calmly. "I've never heard of anyone named Ellie in my entire life-"

"You have a rare eye color, Miss. You can dye your hair, cut it differently, dress differently, and even lose a bit of weight, but your eyes will always give you away." There was nothing else I could say. "So I ask you again, why did you disappear?"

I could refuse to talk. He could do nothing about it. But if I didn't talk, then I would be held here for a long time, and that would end up in disaster. So, instead, I looked up at him, feeling dead inside.

"You want to know why I left Radiant Garden? Left a good job, my husband, my family, my life? What would cause a person to do such a thing?"

"Yeah, I do."

He thought I did something, and he would use that against me. I almost laughed at the irony of this all. "I left, Detective Laguna, because the brother of a man I put in jail threatened to kill everyone I cared about if I didn't."

* * *

><p><em>"You sure you don't want kids?" Riku asked, twirling around in my chair. How he even got into my office was a full blown mystery to me. He didn't have a key, and I know he wouldn't ask someone to help him, yet as soon as I turned on the lights, he asked me this.<em>

_ I could only sigh. "You know what? I think I've changed my mind since we talked about this yesterday. I do want kids now."_

_ "Really?"_

_ "No."_

_ His pouting face was rather adorable, and even made me reconsider wanting to talk about this again, but I really didn't want to have kids. He's known that since before we started dating, as he quite clearly asked me that when we were interviewing each other for that stupid psychology class. _

_ So I ignored his face, and headed over to the side of the desk I needed to be on, saying, "Get out of my chair." Of course, Riku didn't listen to my command, instead, he just turned the chair so he was facing me. I was next to him, opening my desk drawer, so I probably should have expected him to do something, but I was really too distracted to think about it. _

_ Well, until he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his lap._

_ I let out a sigh and didn't even bother trying to get away from him. He was too strong for me. "What are you doing? We're at work."_

_ "Yeah, but office hours haven't started yet," Riku whispered. "So, I don't think you should really care-"_

_ "I don't care, I'm just wondering why," I told him, leaning against his chest. "I'd think you'd get enough of me after three years of living together and being married." Riku laughed quietly and kissed me on the neck._

_ "That's what Axel said to me a couple of days ago." I groaned. Axel didn't like that Riku and I were still married, even though I clearly told him to drop it, and that I'd given up caring about him and Roxas together. He refused._

_ "Well, Axel's just being stupid."  
>"More like protective."<em>

_ I rolled my eyes and pulled away from Riku. Surprisingly, he let me go, and I turned around to face him, grinning. "Like you?"_

_ "Nah. Not as protective as I am," he said, standing up as well. He reached out and caressed my cheek. I shook my head and pushed his hand away, before pushing past him and sitting down in my own chair._

_ "Anyway, I have work to do. You should go to your office now before Axel gets in. You know how much he hates you visiting me while we're here."_

_ "I'm actually more scared of what Roxie would do," Riku said as he headed over to the door. "That kid may be small, and really easy to make fun of, but when he gets mad, I don't envy anyone who gets in his way." That statement was very true. At first, when he started working here, everyone – with the exception of Axel – thought he was just some innocent little kid, but recently, it was almost as if he'd started learning how to protect himself._

_ It was entertaining in its own way._

_ But also a bit scary._

_ "Yeah, I know what you mean," I said, turning on my computer. "So I suggest you leave. Now." _

_ "Yeah yeah." I heard the door to my office open, but it didn't close. Looking up, I saw something strange. A person was standing in the doorway, blocked a little bit by Riku, but I could still see him. There was something about him that I recognized, something scary, yet I didn't think much about it._

_ "Can I help you?" I called out, not sure why the guy was there. He stepped around Riku nervously, who watched him curiously. It was weird that he was here, of course. Unless they worked here, almost no one ever came to visit. Still, it wouldn't have been the first time I'd been visited by a strange person. _

_ "Uh... yeah... I need... I need to talk to you about something." The way he talked was definitely something that didn't escape my attention. I nodded to Riku, telling him he could leave and close the door. As soon as the latch clicked, the guy began speaking again. "S-Seven years a-a-ago y-you worked as a... a... a defense lawyer, r-right?" _

_ I glanced up at him, and placed my pencil down, not sure why he was asking this. "Excuse me?"_

_ "A-and you... you worked a c-case a-a-about a murder?"_

_ "How do you know that?" I asked. The man smiled, before pulling his hand out of his pocket, and aiming a gun at me. I froze, eyes widening._

_ "Don't you recognize me, Miss Elliot?" His voice was suddenly calm, cold, but I could only see the gun. It was cocked, waiting for him to pull the trigger. "No answer? Well, I recognize you. You, the lawyer who questioned my wonderful brother, and got him to confess to killing that girl. Put him away for life."_

_ I clearly remembered that case. It's the one that got me a job working for Cloud Strife. He saw the result of the trial on the news and asked Axel if he knew who I was. Next thing I knew, I was being interviewed for a job. _

_ But I didn't remember anything about a brother. _

_ "Let me tell you something, Miss Elliot," the man said. "My brother, Blank... well, he was my only family. He was the only guy in my life, and you took him away from me. You made it so I was alone, so he was alone." I couldn't control the shaking of my hands. _

_ "What do you want?" My voice was barely audible, and I desperately wished Riku was with me now. I wished he hadn't left, I hadn't sent him away._

_ "I want you to feel the same pain that we felt. My brother for five years, before he died, and me, for seven."_

_ "So you're going to kill me?"_

_ "Oh no," the man said, taking a step forward. "I want you to understand what it's like to lose the person you love. I want you to feel that pain." The gun was right against my forehead now. The cool barrel made it so I couldn't move. "So you're going to leave this place. You're going to leave, and never come back. You won't have contact with anyone here. Not your husband, not your cousin, not your father, your friends..." There was a wild look in his eyes._

_ "What?"_

_ "You're going to leave them all here, or I will kill them. One. By. One." He pulled the gun away from my forehead and uncocked it, laughing. "I'll give you one week to leave, Miss Elliot. If you are still here, I'll start with that husband of yours."_

_ Laughing, he walked away, pocketing the gun again._

_ "Oh, and don't tell anyone."_

_ He opened the door, smiled at me, then left, pushing past Riku, who'd come back for some reason. _

_ "Hey, Ellie, I know you said that I needed to leave, but I have to ask you a question and-" I couldn't move, I couldn't breath, and Riku seemed to notice this. "Ellie? Are you okay? Hey! Ellie!"I felt him grab my shoulders, turn me around, but I couldn't see him. I couldn't see anything. "What's going on? Who was that?" _

_ I didn't know what to say to him._

* * *

><p>Even though I told Detective Laguna what happened, he still seemed to think I was the one who killed Serah. I could tell by the look he was giving me. And it was starting to piss me off, because there was no way I would ever hurt someone. I was completely against murder. I fought against it for almost my entire life.<p>

"So, some guy you didn't know threatened the life of your friends and family, and because of this you just dropped everything and left. Why didn't you go to the police?"

"I was going to," I said, hand moving up to the silver chain around my neck, "but I kept thinking about everything that Blank did to that girl, and I could just imagine what his brother could do."

"And what exactly did Blank do?"

I shuddered just thinking about it. There was no way to phrase it in a nice way. "She was fifteen, and he kidnapped her from school, raped her multiple times, held her hostage for almost two months, then starved her to death," I muttered. "When she was found, there was evidence of physical abuse, which means he would beat her, and he even took to her with a knife." Detective Laguna didn't seem happy to be hearing this. "We eventually found out that he cut her one time for every time he raped her."

Something about what I said caught the detectives attention. He asked me to repeat what I just told him, and I reluctantly did.

"What is it?" I asked when he stood up, muttering to himself.

"It's nothing. I'm just checking something," he said, heading towards the door. "Wait here."

"Hold on! Can I make my call now? It's getting late, and-"

"Who do you need to call, and why?"

I let out a frustrated groan. "I need to call Hana and ask her to pick up my daughter."

* * *

><p><em>Hana had decided it was fate that we'd met twice over the course of a few days. I thought it was just coincidence. <em>

_ Still, when she invited me out for coffee, I couldn't really say no. She did help me with the robbery, and when the guy started harassing me, she took him down in an instant. For a petite female, she was certainly strong, and definitely deserved to be on the police force. _

_ Of course, that didn't mean it wasn't awkward when I met her in the coffee shop by my apartment. _

_ "Anara, right?"It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me. I still wasn't used to using that name. _

_ "Yeah."_

_ "That's a pretty name," she said, taking a sip of her drink. I hadn't touched mine yet. "So, did you just move here?" I nodded. "That's pretty cool, but I wouldn't expect someone like you to move here." She liked to talk. There was no doubt about that. Before I could even respond to what she said, she decided to speak again. "How far along are you?"_

_ I took a sip of my coffee, and gave her a confused look. "About five weeks. How did you-"_

_ "You were buying medicine and vitamins that pregnant women are instructed to take, plus that coffee is decaf," Hana said, shrugging. "My older sis has five, so I pretty much know the rules of the pregnancy game." She grinned. _

_ "I see..." _

_ "So, who's the father?"_

_ I nearly spit out the coffee when she asked me this, and I let out a gasping, "What?"_

_ Hana didn't even seem to notice that I was completely mortified at how personal that question was. "Since you moved here alone, I'm guessing it's some dead beat guy who you forgot to use a condom with so-"_

_ "The father, is my husband." I had to interrupt her. She was way out of line. There was no way I would sleep with someone other than Riku. Of course, she didn't know that, as she barely knew me, but..._

_ "Your husband? You're married?" I froze. There was no wedding ring on my finger. I'd put it on a necklace when I first moved here. I wasn't supposed to let anyone know about who I was before. _

_ "Well, ex-husband, I guess." That would be true if Riku had signed the divorce papers I left for him. I would never know if he had, of course, and it wouldn't matter anyway. I couldn't go back. And I promised myself I would never love anyone again. _

_ Hana was waiting for me to continue with what I was saying, but I didn't have anything else to say at that moment. So she asked another question._

_ "Divorce? Man, what kind of guy leaves his wife when she's pregnant?"_

_ "_I_ left _him_. And he doesn't know I'm pregnant." I myself only found out two weeks after I left Radiant Garden. There was no way Riku would know. _

_ "Are you going to tell him-"_

_ "No."_

_ "Why? Was he an abusive husband? Did you leave him because he was so horrible to you that you had to run away from him and you don't even want him to know he has a kid?" Hana really liked to make guesses about my life. The idea of Riku being abusive made me laugh. Actually laugh._

_ "No way. He would never hurt me," I said, smiling softly at the thought of how gentle Riku used to be with me. How great of a father he would have been._

_ "Then why did you leave him? Is there another guy?"_

_ That was enough for me. "Look, Hana, you're a great person, but I just met you, and we barely know anything about each other, so I don't really feel comfortable talking about this with you." Direct and honest. Axel always used to tell me that that was my greatest quality. "Actually, I don't even know why you're talking to me in the first place, now that I think about it."_

_ Hana laughed, not at all upset by my telling her to back off. "It's difficult to live in this city without a friend," she explained. "It's even worse for a pregnant lady without a friend. So I decided I was gonna be your friend."_

_ She was a really nice person."Thanks, but you really don't need to-"_

_ "Too bad. I want to."_

* * *

><p><em>"You need me to pick up Phoe?" <em>Hana asked on the other end of the phone. She sounded completely surprised, like I'd never asked her to do this before. Which I hadn't. So it wasn't that weird she was surprised.

"Yeah. I'm caught up with something, and they won't let me leave yet."

_"Oh shit, Anara. What did you do?"_

"Nothing! Why would you accuse me of doing something? You know I don't like breaking rules."

_"Right. The lawyer in you."_

I rolled my eyes. I'd eventually told Hana my story, what happened to me, and who I was before. She didn't seem to care that I told her not to talk about it outside of either my apartment, or her house. "Yes, Hana, the lawyer in me. Now, will you please pick her up? I know your shift doesn't start for another few hours."

There was rustling in the background, then Hana spoke again. _"Yeah. I'll pick her up. But where are you? What's going on?"_

"I'm at the police station. They think I murdered my neighbor."

_"You? Murder?"_ Hana laughed. _"I'd sooner see my sis hit one of her kids than you kill someone. That's just ridiculous."_

"Yeah. It is. Or, was. Until they found out I stole my dead mom's name and that I had to run away from home five years ago to escape a crazy freak of nature." It took a minute for Hana to really wrap her head around what I just told her. But as soon as she did, her response was simple.

_"I'm gonna go pick up Phoe, take her to my sis' house, and head to the station."_

"No, Hana, don't-" I tried to tell her, but she hung up the phone before I could say anything else.

Sighing, I hung up as well, and turned to the guard who'd been making sure I wasn't trying to plan an escape or something like that. He gave me a funny look as soon as I was done, before escorting me back to the interrogation room I had been in before. Detective Laguna was there again, looking pale, and confused.

"Are you done?" He asked me, voice sharp.

"Yes. What's going on now?"

He beckoned for me to sit down again. "When you told me what that guy did to that girl, it sounded familiar to me. So I looked through our records, and it turns out, there have been a few murders like that here in the past couple of months."

I paled, and sat down. "Are you saying that his brother is here? The guy who threatened me is out on the streets? Killing?" This was not good. "Oh shit! Please, I have to get out of here! I have to keep my daughter safe!" There was no place I could go, but he would never settle with me having a daughter who cared about me. I had to be alone. In pain. Like he said.

"Ma'am, don't worry," Detective Laguna said. "He's not on the streets anymore. We caught him in the act a few days ago." He pulled out a picture. "Is this the man?" I recognized the image immediately.

"Yes. That's him." I felt myself calm down a little bit. "So, he's in jail?"

"No. He's dead."

"What?"

"We call it 'suicide by cop,'" Detective Laguna explained. "He got himself cornered, then tried to shoot at us. We had to kill him."

I was safe. He was gone. I could go home. I didn't have to hide anymore. But I was confused. "Wait a minute," I said, "why am I still here? Why are you still holding me? Are you just telling me this to make me feel relief before arresting me for a murder I didn't commit?" The look in his eye gave him away completely. "Look, sir, I have no doubts that you're _not_ a complete idiot, but in case you didn't pay attention, I saw my parents murdered. I was nearly killed. I became a lawyer so that creeps wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again. Why would I murder someone?"

"Until we have more information about your neighbor's murder, Miss Jarbin, we'd like to keep you in custody."

"I have a daughter to take care of! I can't just stay here-"

"Have Hana take care of her."

There really was no arguing with cops. He could hold me here for three days if he wanted to, or until they found something that proved I was innocent. But I had no alibi, and a reason for wanting to kill Serah.

The good news had turned sour quite quickly.

* * *

><p><em>"Anara, you need to stop doing this to yourself, it's not healthy!" I could barely hear Hana's voice. It was distant, like she wasn't there. "And think about how this will affect Phoe-"<em>

_ "Phoe is fine," I muttered, shifting the baby to a more comfortable position. "She's a healthy weight, and is growing quickly every day. There's nothing I need to be worried about." She squirmed a little bit under her blanket, eyes scrunching up to cry. I began to sing to her softly, trying to calm her down a bit. _

_ "Only because you're feeding her formula," Hana said, voice clearer. "But it's not _her_ health I'm worried about. It's yours! If you keep not eating, then you're going to end up dying, and leaving Phoe without a mother, or a father!"_

_ "I'm fine. I'm eating just like I should be."_

_ "Oh really? What's the last thing you ate?"_

_ Phoe calmed down, going back to sleep quietly. I had no answer for Hana. I couldn't remember the last thing I'd eaten. "I'll be fine, Hana. We'll both be fine. Now please leave. Your yelling is upsetting her." She'd just fallen asleep a few minutes ago, closing her blue-green eyes quietly. I loved her eyes. They always reminded me of Riku. _

_ "Anara, what's wrong with you?" Hana asked, sitting down next to me. "Before Phoe was born, you were eating normally, you smiled, had emotions, and just acted like normal. Now... now it's like you're depressed. Only the doctor says it's not postpartum depression."_

_ Tears welled up in my eyes. "I don't know, Hana. I feel so alone right now," I muttered. "I didn't even want kids, and now... now that I can't even see him I have a baby. I should be at home. He should be here with me!" I hugged my baby tighter, crying. _

_ I could feel Hana's hand rub against my back, like she was trying to calm me. "When whatever is keeping you away from him disappears, you can go back to him, alright?" She told me. "You guys will be together again. I promise."_

_ There was no way I could believe her. That man would never go away. He would always be there, waiting for me to go back to Riku, and then he would kill him. I couldn't let that happen._

* * *

><p>Warm arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me down a little bit. I nearly dropped the folder I was carrying.<p>

"Riku," a voice cooed, "work hours are over now. You should come back to my place and we can, you know, have a little fun." The sound of her voice made me feel sick to my stomach. I really hated this woman. Ever since she'd come to work for Roxas and Axel a year ago, she'd done nothing but bug me, flirt with me, make me want to puke. It was like she didn't get the message that I was taken.

Sure, Ellie had left me for some weird reason five years ago, but I was still completely devoted to her. I didn't even think about dating after she left, and I refused to sign the divorce papers. Everyone told me I was insane, and that I should just give up on her, but I couldn't.

She was mine.

I would find her, and bring her back here, even if she tried to kill me for doing so.

Even though I'd explained this to Lulu, the new intern in the accounting department, she still tried to get me to sleep with her every other day.

After a sigh, I shrugged my shoulders, pushing Lulu off of me. She landed on the ground with a little squeak, and I glanced down at her, eyes narrowed viciously.

"I'm married. Leave me alone," I snapped, before taking off down the hall again.

"You're not married," Lulu growled, following me. "Your 'wife' left you a long time ago, Riku. Don't you think it's time to move onto someone younger. Someone better?" This intern was impossible. I'd asked Roxas to get rid of her on many occasions, but he kept saying that she would get over me eventually and then everything would get back to normal.

I would have asked Axel for help, but his answer would have been worse. He would have told me to sleep with the chick and get over Ellie.

Jackass.

"As long as I wear this wedding ring," I answered, holding up my left hand. "I'm taken." Without waiting for her to say anything else, I walked off, hoping that would get the message across. She didn't follow me, so it was highly possible that it had worked.

Unfortunately, I had to wait for the next day to find out what the actual result was.

* * *

><p><em>When I got home from work that day, I knew something was wrong. First of all, I didn't hear anything, and Ellie had gone home early. Second of all, I'd been worried all day because last night she decided to shove me onto the bed without speaking and seduce me. You know; the opposite of what Ellie would do.<em>

_ And of course, me being a guy, and her husband, I went along with it. _

_ The next day she woke up and left before I did. I saw her once at work. She didn't even talk to me. Granted, we hadn't talked much at all since that guy came to her office, but I didn't want to question her about what happened. She would tell me when she was ready, and clearly she wasn't ready yet. According to Axel she wouldn't even talk to him, which worried me a little. When she didn't talk to me, she always went to him._

_ Annoying, but I guess it's better than her keeping everything to herself again. _

_ Anyway, when I walked in the door of my house, I called out to her. I waned to know where she was, but I didn't get an answer. Confused, I walked into the living room, wondering if maybe she hadn't gotten home yet, when I saw it._

_ A stack of papers sitting on the coffee table. My initial reaction was to just ignore it. They were probably legal documents for Ellie. She hated bringing work home, but sometimes she had to in order to keep the stupid company running._

_ Axel and Roxas really needed to get their priorities straight and stop acting like the idiots they are. I didn't care that Axel's a genius and Roxas actually had some brains developing. They were stupid._

_ I guess I waited for a few minutes, then I decided to call Ellie and ask where she was. Make sure she was okay._

_ I didn't get an answer._

_ No, I didn't just not get an answer. I got a message saying the phone had been disconnected and the number was no longer available._

_ That's when I looked at the papers on the table and saw that they were forms for a divorce. Her part had already been filled out. _

_ Before that day I never thought I'd ever feel completely abandoned again. I never really understood Roxas' depression after Axel left a few years before. I thought that no women would just walk out of my life again, like my mother had done. But Ellie did all of this to me._

_ Without giving me a reason._

_ I knew there had to be one, and one that made sense, but I couldn't figure it out. _

_ When I finally calmed down a little, because I seriously freaked out, I did the only thing I could think of doing; I shredded the papers. I didn't want her to think that I would just give up on her. The next time I saw her I would ask why. I would get my answer because I needed to know. If __she still wanted a divorce and I thought the reason was valid, then I would go for it. I wouldn't force her to be in a horrible situation._

_ It didn't occur to me that I might never see her again._

* * *

><p><em>"Come on, Riku,<em>" Sora said. _"Just move back to Destiny Island with us."_ I'd always found his voice to be annoying. Even when I had a crush on him, I thought his voice was whiny and irritating. And now, over the phone, I found it to be even worse.

"No, Sora. I don't want to move back there. You and Kairi are happy there, but I won't be," I told him, unlocking the door to my office. I was late today. I really hoped neither Axel or Roxas would notice, though there's no doubt Axel would have. He always noticed when I was late, even if he came after me.

_"Why not? You were happy here as a kid!"_

"Yeah, until I became depressed because you were dating Kairi, even though I liked you." There was a high chance he'd hang up on me after that. But he didn't. Unfortunately.

_"...Don't mention that," _he muttered instead. _"Besides, it's not like that now."_

"Sora, you know I can't move back there-"

_"Yeah, because you think Ellie's gonna come back. Face it Riku, she's gone."_

I rolled my eyes. "She was happy, Sora. Then that weird guy visited her, and a week later she left. I don't think that's a coincidence. She didn't leave because she wanted to." That wasn't the only reason I didn't want to leave. I had a good job here, and Radiant Garden was a great city to live in. I don't know why Kairi and Sora were so desperate to get back to that desolate island with almost no contact with the outside world. They were probably just freaks, or something.

Plus, if I did move back, I'd probably be stuck babysitting my two-year-old godsons all the time. I loved Kairi, and I was sure Seito and Hiro were great kids, but I would not be able to live anywhere near them. According to Sora, they were a nightmare at the moment.

I wouldn't know. I hadn't seen them in over a year. Last time I saw them, they were just beginning to walk and talk. Adorable, but annoying.

_"Riku, the sooner you admit the truth to yourself that she left you, the happier you'll be."_

"Why Kairi, I didn't realize you'd become a man," I said sarcastically. On the other side of the line, I heard Sora laugh for a moment, then stop suddenly, like he'd realized what I just said. Most things took him a while to figure out.

_"Look, she's worried about you too. We all are. Roxas even told me that you don't do anything anymore. You just work during the day and sleep at night."_

"Since when do you talk to Roxie?"

_"Since I moved back to Destiny Island. Didn't you know that?"_

"Nah. I couldn't be bothered to figure out who Roxie is and isn't talking to." As far as I was concerned, Roxas only ever talked to Axel, except when he was performing his bossly duties and telling people what to do and stuff like that. It was kind of brilliant of Cloud to set it up this way. Leave paper work to the genius Axel, and dealing with people to Roxas. The twenty-six year old was certainly better at working with people than his father.

"Anyway, Sora, if there's nothing else you want to talk to me about, then I really have to go," I said, checking my watch to make sure of the time. I had half an hour to get my papers together and show up for the meeting that was, of course, scheduled for today. Wonderful.

_"Hang on, one more thing from Kairi."_

"What?"

_"She wants to know if you're going to come visit soon."_

I sighed, and leaned back in my chair, thinking only about how annoying the two of them had been since Ellie left. "No, Sora. I don't think I'm going to visit you guys any time soon. Probably not until Christmas or something."

Sora muttered something to himself, probably cursing me for leaving him alone with his wife and two nightmarish twins for a while longer, then said abnormally cheerfully, _"Alright. I'll let Kai know when she gets back from the hospital."_

"Yeah, you do that." Then I hung up on him, knowing it would irritate him beyond all belief. He was as much fun to annoy as Roxas was, even though I'd never tell him that.

* * *

><p>According to Roxas, I'm a chick magnet.<p>

At first I didn't believe it, as it was coming from Roxas, the guy who never noticed anything, but after some time, I realized he was actually right. When Ellie first left, I stopped wearing my ring, and every time I went out, I had at least five girls give me their number. Eventually, it got so annoying that I put the ring back on and girls started avoiding me again.

Well, most of the time.

Then there were women like Lulu who didn't seem to get the message.

"Riku, come on! Let's go already!" The worst part about Lulu was not that she was persistent with getting me to sleep with her, but she really made me miss Ellie. They were so different, Lulu being whiny, and clingy, while Ellie actually thought for herself and didn't care what I was doing at that moment. If she wanted to leave, she would ask me how long I would be, and if it was too long for her, she would just go. Unless I asked her to wait for me.

Then she'd usually laugh and say, "Yeah right. Hurry your ass up or I'm leaving without you."

Believe it or not, but that was so much better than this girl who clung to me every second she could. And I wasn't even dating her.

"Go away." That was the only thing I said to her. It obviously wasn't enough for her.

"But Riku," she whined, grabbing onto my arm, "I'm gonna be late!"

"Then leave without me."

"But-"

"_You're_ Riku Finnigan?" It was another female voice that spoke, and I nearly groaned. Another woman I would have to explain to that I didn't want to date, and that I should just be left alone. Besides, it didn't make any sense that she was here. So I turned around, trying to shake Lulu off of my arm.

She was shorter than I expected. A lot shorter. Probably about five foot, or something close to that, with pitch black hair, and gray eyes. She wore a cops uniform, though not one I recognized, and she seemed pissed to see me, hands on her hips. Well, until I made eye contact with her. Then she just seemed surprised.

"Wow, you are Riku Finnigan. Huh."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked, taking a step forward. Unfortunately, it was then Lulu decided to speak again.

"Look, Miss, I get that you want Riku, but he's mine, so back off." I wanted to murder her. Almost did too, only there was a cop standing in front of me, so I wouldn't have been able to get away with it.

The woman didn't have the reaction I was expecting.

"Wow," she said, shaking her head. "I totally had a different image of you. But, I guess it's hard when your wife disappears for five years. Oh well." She turned to leave, but I was too curious to let her just go like that.

"How do you know that?" I asked, shoving Lulu to the side. "Who are you? How did you know my name? And how did you know about-"  
>"Do you know this woman?" A picture was held out in front of the strange cop, interrupting my speech. I rolled my eyes, thinking that there would be no way I could know the person, but as soon as I set my sights on the picture, I froze.<p>

It was Ellie.

Her hair had been dyed a darker color, and grown out a lot, reaching halfway down her back now, and she was a lot thinner, but it was definitely her. She was smiling softly, those golden eyes of hers half closed, as if she was looking at something extremely precious to her. Slowly, I reached out and grabbed the picture from the cops hand, unable to tear my eyes away from it.

"Ellie," I whispered. "This is Ellie. How did you get this? Where did you get this? Where is she? What's going on?"

"Right, you know her by her real name. I keep forgetting about that," the cop said, shaking her head. Of course, she didn't answer any of my questions, and only raised more. "Oh well." She shrugged. "My name's Hana, and I'm a friend of hers," she pointed at the picture, "only, I know her as Anara, not Ellie."

Anara. That was her mother's name.

"Riku! Let's go-" Lulu began to whine again, but I'd had enough with her.

"Fuck off Lulu," I growled, pushing her away. "Stop living in some fantasy world. I don't love you, I don't even like you. You're fucking annoying." This wouldn't end well, obviously. I'd probably be reported for something now, but as long as it got the idiotic intern off of me, then I didn't care.

"Oh. So you aren't seeing each other," Hana asked me as soon as Lulu ran off. She looked amused. I reluctantly handed the photo back to her, feeling disgusted that she even though that.

"Of course not. That girl is just obsessed with me. But how do you know Ellie? Where is she now? Why are you showing me this?" I wasn't going to let this girl say anything else until she answered my questions. If she even tried to go on about something that wasn't related to how she met Ellie or where she was, then I would have to interrupt her.

"I met Ellie a little less than five years ago after her apartment was robbed by some guy, then a few days later when I came to help get rid of some customer at the store she was at. We became friends after that, because it's pretty much impossible to survive in Midgar without a friend, and she was all alone so-"  
>"She's in Midgar?" I asked, not caring that the cop seemed irritated by me interrupting her. That was a six hour drive from Radiant Garden. I never would have thought to look there.<p>

"Yeah, she is. Now come on, I've come to get you so you can go see her again."

As soon as she said this, my heart sunk. I wanted to see her so badly. It had been the only thing I'd really thought about since she left, and now I could prove to everyone here that I wasn't just being a crazy man who couldn't give up. But it was just her friend who was here. That meant she probably didn't know Hana was here, and still didn't want to see me. I couldn't just do that to her. Besides, it had been five years.

"I can't," I muttered, backing away. Hana gave me a look that asked me 'why the hell not?' so I answered here as best as I could. "People change in five years," I said. "Ellie's changed too. I don't think she'd want to see me."

At first, it looked like Hana was going to yell at me, but then she just completely calmed down, and shook her head.

"Fine. Whatever. I don't really care. You don't seem like you love her that much anyway."

"Hey! That's not-"

"She never stopped loving you, Riku Finnigan. I mean, I'd tried to get her to go out and find someone so she would have some kind of male companionship, but every time we went out, she ignored everyone and just sat alone, waiting for me to take her home." She took a step forward, nearly closing the distance between us, and I had to back down. Hana was slightly terrifying. "She wants to see you. If you honestly think that she doesn't, or wouldn't want to, then you're definitely not the guy she's been talking about for the past five years, and you definitely don't deserve to be with her now."

We stared at each other in silence for a moment, her glaring, me thinking. Finally, I shook my head, and growled, "Fine. Take me there."

* * *

><p><em>"Mommy, why don't I have a daddy?" Phoe asked, picking at her food. Her wide blue-green eyes stared up at me curiously, waiting for my response as I served myself food to eat. She had never asked me this before, though, I figured she didn't really understand before now what that question would have meant. <em>

_ "You do have a daddy," I said. "He's just not here right now."_

_ The little girl crossed her arms in a pout and shook her head violently. "But I want to meet him!" She whined. "I want to meet my daddy!"_

_ "When you're older-"_

_ "No. Now." I wished then that she didn't act so much like Riku. Usually I found it endearing, and it reminded me so much of him, but occasionally, like now, her stubbornness was absolutely frustrating. _

_ "Why do you want to meet him so much?" I asked, wondering what could have brought this up. Hana and I never talked about Riku in front of her, just because we were both worried that she would start acting like this, so it was possible that someone at her daycare, or maybe one of Hana's sister's kids said something to her. _

_ "Everyone else has a daddy, but I don't," she told me, calming down a little. "I want to see him." Hana had warned me about this. She said that one day, Phoe would want to know who her dad is. She would ask questions about him, ask what he was like, what he looked like, and why she couldn't meet him. I figured it was a little too early for some of those questions, as she was only four, but still..._

* * *

><p>"Can I go now?"<p>

They'd been holding me here for a long time. Almost two days. I'd begun to get really frustrated with the idiots. I was sure Phoe had been asking for me, and I didn't know where Hana had gone, and now they were telling me that they still hadn't found anything.

It was like they didn't even care that I had a life I needed to live out.

"Yes, actually," Detective Laguna said, opening the door for me to leave. It had to be some kind of trick. "We found something that clears you completely from the charges. I'm very sorry to have wasted your time."

That was it? He just expected me to leave without getting any information? What kind of idiot is he? "And what would that be? Why didn't your guys find it earlier?" I asked, crossing my arms. Detective Laguna looked embarrassed, so I guessed it was one of those small things that they usually overlooked, though you'd think by now that they would have learned not to overlook anything.

Sighing, I headed out of the interrogation room, not really caring anymore what kind of idiots had held me captive for such a long amount of time.

"Anara! Finally!" Hana bounded over to me, eyes shining with excitement. "I have a surprise for you!"

"Is it clean clothes, a shower, and good food?" I asked, knowing that she probably had none of those things for me. Still, the hyper cop might have actually pulled through on something this time. It was worth asking.

"Nope! It's something better than that!" She pulled towards the entrance of the police station. "Okay, so the creepy guy who threatened you is dead now, right?" I rolled my eyes and nodded, not sure where this was going. "Well, that means you can see everyone you cared about again!"

This time, I stopped moving completely, pulling my arm out of her grip just before we exited the building. "Hana, it's been five years. I just took off and left them with no warning, no note, nothing. None of them are going to want to see me again."

"Funny," Hana mused. "That's what Riku said to me when I told him he could see you again."

That made me freak out a little internally. "You contacted Riku!" My voice was barely above a whisper, but it was obvious I was yelling at her. "Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't," Hana replied, grinning. "Besides, I didn't just contact him." She pointed outside the police building. "I actually drove down to Radiant Garden and talked to him there. He decided to come." She said something else, but the words were lost on me. Slowly, I moved to the door and pushed it open, eyes never leaving the male figure standing outside of them.

At first it was just a figure- the doors making the details blurry- but once I was outside, it was clear without a doubt that it was Riku. He'd grown his hair out again, or, had started to, as it reached down to his shoulders, but not much farther. His back was turned to me, so I couldn't really see what he looked like, but the rest of his body from the back certainly hadn't changed that much.

Then he turned around and saw me. It was strange, seeing his eyes, as I was so used to seeing them on Phoe. It was like they didn't belong there for a second. But they were his. Always had been. Always will be.

For a minute no one moved or said anything, but then Riku took a hesitant step towards me, and I flinched.

"Riku, I'm so sorry," I whispered, trying not to cry. "I didn't... I didn't want to leave, and-"

My incoherent words were muffled suddenly as Riku reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me into a hug. His warm body was something I'd never thought I'd get to experience again, but here he was, holding me in place as I started crying. It was like I'd never left.

"I don't care, Ellie." It had been so long since I'd been called that. So long since I'd heard that name said in that voice. "Your friend explained everything to me on the way down, and I don't care. I'm just glad you're here."

For some odd reason I started laughing, and I pulled away, so glad he was here, but also not really believing it was true. Then Hana appeared next to me and turned me away. I was really confused by what she was doing, but when I tried to ask her, she interrupted me. Of course. She was too talkative for her own good sometimes.

"I can convince my sis to take care of Phoe for another night. You go spend time with your husband."

"Ex-husband," I told her. But she laughed.

"He never signed the divorce papers." Then like that, my friend was gone, running back into the police station as if her feet were on fire. I smiled to myself. She was too good of a friend. Driving six hours just to find Riku... that was amazing.

I felt his hand slip into mine, and I looked up at him. I loved him so much. I didn't know how I survived without him. Chances are, if I didn't have Phoe, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have been able to force myself to live another day.

* * *

><p>When Hana told me to wait outside, I found myself thinking that I didn't know what I would say to her, how I would react, what I should do. I clearly remembered that day, when the strange man showed up. I should have known something was going on when I walked back into Ellie's office and she was extremely pale. I should have chased after the guy and called the police, but I didn't.<p>

Should I apologize? Ask her to forgive me for not being able to protect her? Would she kill me if I asked that? Ellie never liked being protected. She didn't like it when I tried to save her from something, telling me it was her problem, not mine.

So I wouldn't be able to do that.

I contemplated what I should do for a good ten minutes before the door behind me opened. I turned, worried that I still didn't have something good to say, but when I saw her, my mind went blank.

And when she said my name, I knew it didn't matter anymore.

Neither of us spoke as I drove us to her apartment. And even once we were in the place, it was like no words could be exchanged. Her apartment was a lot smaller than the one she'd shared with Kairi and Naminé, but it still had two bedrooms. One was hers, of course, and the other would have to be her daughter's.

Our daughter's.

Hana told me in the drive down that Ellie had been pregnant when she'd come here, and now had a four year old daughter. Who was also mine.

I'd seen a picture of her before I drove down here. It seems Hana had an obsession with taking photos of everyone she met. She even took one of me, saying that Ellie would love to see my expression. But Phoe's picture, my daughter's picture... It had her and Ellie in it. I immediately could see that Phoe looked a lot like her. The hair was lighter, and her eyes were clearly mine, but still, I looked at her and saw Ellie.

"She's four, right?" I asked, staring into the room that belonged to my daughter. It wasn't what you would expect from a little girl. No pink, no dolls, but a lot of blue, and pictures of weapons. I had a feeling she was more like me than I thought.

"Yeah. She'll be five in January." I looked over at Ellie, who was standing a little bit away from me. "She asks about you a lot."

"Really? What have you told her?"

"A lot of things," was all she said, eyes growing soft. I recognized the look on her face from the one in the picture Hana showed me, and I realized that she must have been talking to Phoe when that picture was taken. I never would have guessed that Ellie would have been a protective mom. Or go through with being a mom. I figured she would have given up her daughter for adoption. Or something along those lines.

But here it was. Proof that Ellie was a mom. Axel would never believe this. Speaking of Axel, I didn't actually tell him or Roxas where I was going. Just that I was taking a few days off and that they shouldn't bug me.

That wasn't going to go over well when I got back.

I didn't want to think about that, however. I just wanted to think about how Ellie was back in my life. How she was safe, and healthy.

And once again, mine.

Realizing that this was the best moment of my life, I reached over and took hold of Ellie's arm gently. She was so much thinner than she used to be. I remember Hana telling me that after Phoe was born, she'd go days without eating. Even now she had trouble remembering when she had to eat something.

Ellie didn't fight me as I pulled her close and caressed her cheek softly. She just smiled, leaned up, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me softly.

God it felt good to kiss her again. It felt so good to have her with me, in my arms, knowing that she had no reason to leave again, and that she would stay with me forever. Even if both of us had changed a bit over the past five years.

We still loved each other.

Sora was so gonna hate himself for telling me otherwise.

* * *

><p>Even though the phone was ringing, I did not want to let Ellie go. Sure, that ringtone meant it was Kairi, and if I didn't pick up, she would call Axel or Roxas, then they'd tell her I just took off, and she would fly out here, find me, and castrate me for not answering the phone, but I still didn't want to pick it up.<p>

Ellie was still sleeping, probably completely exhausted from everything that had happened. Two days being held by the police could not be a fun experience. The ringing seemed to disturb her though, as she shifted slightly, so I sighed, reached over, and grabbed it.

"Hello?" I answered, trying to keep my voice low. But the damage was done. Ellie had woken up, and was staring at my curiously.

_"Riku, where the hell are you?"_ Kairi asked me, yelling quite loudly. Ellie heard her voice, and smiled, shaking her head. She knew as well as I did that Kairi was way too upset for her own good.

"Why do you ask?"

_"Because Roxas called me not long ago and told me that you just ran off yesterday, saying you wouldn't be back for a couple of days. But you didn't tell him where you were going, and now everyone's worried about you!"_

"Sorry. Didn't mean to worry you guys. I'm fine," I told her, sitting up. I really didn't want to be talking to her right now. Here I was, having a wonderful moment with Ellie, and now it's ruined. Great.

_"Tell me where you are right now, Riku, or I'm coming back there and-"_

"I'm a big boy now, Kairi. I can take care of myself." This only served to piss Kairi off, though Ellie seemed to be greatly amused. She laughed quietly, and as Kairi yelled at me for being insolent, cocky, horribly selfish, and other things, I leaned over and kissed her, hand trailing down her bare shoulder.

_"Riku? Are you even listening to me?"_

After a moment considering whether or not to answer that or just hang up, I pulled away from Ellie again. "Look, Kai, I'd love to stay and chat with you right now, but I'm kinda having a moment with my wife, and I'd really like to get back to that."

_"Ugh! You're such a... Wait, your wife? Ellie? You're with Ellie?" _In the background I heard Sora saying something in a surprised voice, and two little boys' voices talking as well, before Kairi started asking more questions. _"Where are you Riku? Where is she? What's going on-"_

I would have answered her, but Ellie took the phone from me and ended the call.

"They sound happy," she commented, throwing the phone on the other side of the bed. With a little laugh, I pushed her over so her back was laying against the bed and attacked her mouth.

"I guess they are," I muttered after pulling away for a second. "They have twin boys now."

"Oh? So you're an uncle?"

I groaned at the thought. According to Sora, Kairi had trained Seito and Hiro to call me 'Uncle Riku,' which, you know, was really weird seeing as I had no relations to either of their parents besides being their friend. I guess that's what kids call their parents friends, but it still annoyed me a little bit.

"You know, we should probably get up." And there it was. Ellie's voice of reason. There was no way I wanted to listen to that, so I just kissed her again, ignoring her struggles to get up. "Riku," she breathed when I started moving to her neck, "I need... to... pick up... Phoe." That stopped me. The idea of meeting my daughter was something I would definitely drop everything and go do.

We stared at each other for a moment before I sighed and sat up. "Alright."

* * *

><p>So, apparently I shouldn't have told Kairi I was with Ellie. At first I thought she would just leave us alone, maybe have a conversation with Sora about the whole ordeal, but no. It was stupid of me to think that she would let it go after that. I should have known she would do something rash, and annoying.<p>

If only she hadn't called Axel.

See, over the past five years, Axel has had... issues, dealing with Ellie's disappearance. At first they were really bad, and Roxas kept coming to me for advice on what to do when his boyfriend didn't want to talk or do anything. After a while he got better, acting somewhat normal again, but both Roxas and I knew he was different now.

The worst part about that, was he became more gentle to Roxas, and a hell of a lot meaner to me. I mean, he was bad before Ellie left, as he was still mad at me for marrying her, but afterward, it was like he blamed me for her leaving.

So, of course, when he found out that I had made contact with his dear best friend, he had to call.

Only, he called me, and yelled at me to give the phone to Ellie or I was going to get fired. Really, I had no choice but to comply.

Which was why now, instead of meeting my daughter, I was stuck, sitting in my car, listening to Ellie have a conversation with Axel. On my phone.

"Yes. Axel, I'm fine. Axel... I said I was sorry, okay? I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter... well, I'll tell you what it is when I get back to Radiant Garden. Of course I'm moving back there! Why wouldn't I?" This exchange was actually kind of amusing, though I wished it would be over sooner. "It's where Riku lives and has a job... Actually, yes. I really am only moving back there because of Riku. Chances are, if he wasn't in my life, I would just stay here." Wow. That made me feel special. There was absolutely no sarcasm in her voice, meaning it was true...

Wow.

"Believe it or not, but this place is actually nice, and I do have a life here. Axel, if you fire Riku for something as stupid as this, I'm never going to talk to you again." There was a moment of pause between the conversation, during which Ellie mouthed at me that she was sorry. I only laughed. "Oh, hey Roxas. He'll be fine. I wasn't being serious anyway. Sorta. Look, I have to go, alright? Because Riku needs to meet his daughter. Bye now!"

She hung up then, letting out a frustrated groan. "Those two have become impossible."

"They've _always_ been impossible," I corrected, rolling my eyes. "You're just now realizing this because you haven't talked to either of them in a long time."

"Right." She didn't say anything after that, only staring at my phone with sad eyes. When I asked her what was wrong, she answered, "I don't know if I want to go back. I mean, I love Axel, and he's my best friend, but I feel like if I go back now, then things are going to change. He has Roxas, who I know is completely devoted to him, but what will change when I go back? I've become a different person and-"

"You don't seem that different to me," I interjected.

"You've only been talking to me for a day-"

"I don't know, you seemed the same to me last night. Are you saying that was some kind of act?"

"W-What? No! Of course not. But-"

"Look, Ellie," I said, turning to her, "it's okay if you like it here and want to stay. I'll move here with you. But you're still Ellie. Alright? Things between Axel and Roxas won't change because you move back, so don't use that as an excuse."

"But-"

"I mean, nothing really changed after Naminé committed suicide, and Roxas still loved her."

"What? Naminé did that?"

"Yeah. A few years back. Roxas nearly died, and Kairi won't talk about it at all." I didn't even want to talk about it. I wished I hadn't mentioned it. Thankfully, Ellie seemed to notice this, and didn't press the subject anymore.

"I guess you're right... But what if-"  
>"Ellie! If you move back, everything will be fine. If you don't move back, everything will be fine, though Axel might come and try to kill me." My voice slowed down when I thought about how pissed Axel would be if I was with Ellie, but he was nowhere near her. "That would be bad. For me. But it's up to you in the end."<p>

She laughed before opening the door and slipping out. I followed her, wondering what her final decision was going to be. Half of me hoped that she would move back to Radiant Garden with me, and things could go back to normal, but the other half of me just wanted to stay here with her. And Phoe. Get away from the madness that was Axel and Roxas screwing each other. Seriously, it was madness. Those two freaked me out sometimes.

"So, are you ready to meet your daughter?" Ellie asked as we stood on the front porch of Hana's sister's house.

"Of course I am," I said, reaching out to grab her around the waist. "A little freaked out, but I think that's normal." Pulling her into a hug, I asked, "Is that normal?"

"I don't know. I was in too much pain to remember if I was 'freaked out,'" she told me, laughing. The only thing I could think to do was smile and kiss her, so happy she was here with me. Then the door opened. And Hana was standing there, staring at us with a confused expression.

For a minute there was complete silence, me holding onto Ellie, who probably looked as though she were currently standing on death's doorstep rather than her friends, and Hana, who had a smirk on her face.

"Well. You two seem happy. I was going to call Phoe over here, but I guess I'll just close the door and-"

"Hana!"

"Fine, fine."

I let go of Ellie, feeling slightly embarrassed. She glanced up at me, and smiled, just as I heard a small, high pitched voice scream, "mommy!" Somewhat instinctively, I flinched. My eyes darted around the area as I prepared myself for two bratty little boys to come toddling out of nowhere.

This is what Kairi and Sora's kids have done to me.

Instead, a small girl dashed out of the house and nearly tackled Ellie's legs. Ellie bent down and hugged the girl almost immediately, smiling. I, however, was in a bit of shock. Seeing a picture was one thing, but actually seeing the little girl in flesh and blood was a completely different experience.

"I missed you, Mommy," she said as Ellie picked her up. "Where did you go?"

"I had something I needed to take care of," Ellie explained, pushing some of her daughter's blond hair out of her face. "I'm sorry I was gone so long."

"It's okay." She hugged her mom again, before glancing back at me, confusion filling her eyes. The eyes that creepily reminded me of my own. It made me wonder how Ellie had felt every time she looked at this girl. "Who is that?" She whispered this question to Ellie, eyes never leaving me. "He looks like me."

I smiled and waved, not sure exactly what I should do. Kairi always told me I'd be a clumsy dad.

If only she knew how right she was.

"Of course he looks like you," Ellie said, turning around so she faced me. "He's your dad."

"My daddy?" After a moment of silence, she suddenly glared at me, then turned away. "I don't like him." Yeah, that caused my heart to sink a little bit. Rejected by my own daughter. Who the hell gets rejected by their four year old daughter?

"Phoe! That's rude!"

"But he's scary!"

"No he's not."

"Actually, I like to think that I'm a little scary," I decided to say, wondering if Phoe would get my humor. Probably not. She was really young. I regretted saying it though, because Ellie hit my arm.

"Riku!" She hissed. "That is not something you say!"

"Sorry." I wasn't actually sorry, because Phoe giggled a little bit and smiled at me. She was smart.

"Are you really my daddy?" Phoe asked me. I nodded. "Where have you been? I wanted to meet you. Mommy said I couldn't meet you yet, but I still wanted to. Where did you come from?" She leaned towards Ellie and asked her a question quietly. The response was to put the small child on the ground, and a very confused expression shot my way.

I could only shrug. Sora was the one who was good at dealing with kids. That's why he became the teacher, and I went into accounting.

Of course, that didn't mean I didn't like kids. I actually had a soft spot for them, and when Ellie told me she didn't want kids all those years ago, I was somewhat upset. Then, when Hana informed me that she had a daughter, I was pretty psyched.

Anyway, back to the four year old girl who was staring up at me.

I bent down so I was at her level. Which was difficult, let me tell you. She was taller than I expected, but still, she was a heck of a lot shorter than me. Even crouched down, it was like I was standing next to Ellie, who's a good seven inches shorter than me. The curse of being tall.

"Are you gonna live with us now?" Phoe queried, examining my hair curiously. Obviously she'd never seen silver hair before.

"Of course," I answered, still smiling. "If your mom want me to, I'll move here, or you two will move with me, back to the city where your mom grew up." It was clear that Phoe didn't completely understand what I meant by that. It was highly possible that she wouldn't even remember this. Or, there was a high chance of that until Ellie's stupid friend took a picture of what was going on. I didn't even notice her standing by the door.

"Aunty Hana, why did you take a picture?" Everyone's attention was on the short cop standing in the doorway. She smiled sheepishly, then dashed inside before anything else could be said. She kind of reminded me of Axel.

It was no wonder Ellie became friends with her.

"Aunt Hana probably wanted to remember this moment," Ellie explained to Phoe. "She takes a lot of pictures, remember?"

"Why would she want to remember this?" I could think of a couple of reasons, but I was really glad when Phoe asked this question, because I wanted to know the reason why as well. The actual reason, anyway.

"Well," Ellie started to say. She looked a bit sad, and a little nostalgic. Immediately I knew what she was thinking. "See, you and I are going to move far away from here, to where I grew up, and where your dad lives right now. Aunt Hana won't be able to see us all the time like she can now, so she wants something to remember us by."

"Oh."

Again, I doubted Phoe really understood the situation.

"Okay, so we need to go home, alright? Go get your sleepover stuff." Phoe nodded, then ran inside the house, glancing back at me curiously. As soon as she was gone, Ellie sighed and reached for my hand.

"You sure you want to move back?" I asked, grabbing her hand. "You don't need to feel like you should. If you want to stay here, you can."

Ellie shook her head, before leaning it against my arm. "I do have a life here," she said slowly, "a life, and a friend, and this is where Phoe was born, but I want to go home. All I've ever wanted was to go home, and now I can. I'm not going to pass that up for anything."

"You know that Kairi's going to throw a fit when she sees you, right? She started hating you when you left."

"I'm not surprised. She's very protective of you and Sora."

"Like Axel is of you?"

"No. In a different way. It's more like she's your mother." Kairi had taken on that roll after my mom ran off about eighteen years ago. I always hated Kairi for acting like that, as we were supposed to be friends. Maybe that was why I didn't fall in love with her, like everyone expected me to.

Ellie's arms suddenly wrapped around my waist, and her face buried in my side, like she was about to cry. "Everything's going back to the way it was," she muttered there, barely audible. I didn't say anything. "I never thought I'd be with you again, that Phoe would be able to meet you while I was still alive. Never thought that life would be fair to me ever again."

The only thing I could think to do was lean down and kiss her on the top of the head, not really wanting her to let go of me.

"I love you, Riku."

A smile graced my lips. "I love you too."


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm a bad author... I know. But Kairi and Sora just... they just don't bring me the joy that other characters do. Otherwise this chapter would have been done a long time ago.**

**But anyway, I've decided to go betaless. I haven't even talked to my beta about it (Sorry Rocket-Ship. You were an awesome beta, but I just don't have the time to put things together anymore :( Plus, I'm sure you have your own life, so...), but it's true. Basically, when chapters are written, I'll do my best to edit them by myself, then post them as soon as I finish. Which will be often for some chapters because I only need to write four more in this story. Well, five, I guess.**

**So, here's the story of how Sora and Kairi started dating. Kinda. It's crap. I'm sorry. I wrote most of it (all but two and a half pages) last night at a bridge tournament when I had nothing else to do, so...**

**Anyway, thanks to all the reviewers, read, enjoy, review (PLEASE!) and the next chapter will be how Riku and Ellie got married. It's a short chapter, so be prepared for that.**

**~Sunechirei**

* * *

><p>Day 1<p>

For the entire time I've known Riku, we've been competing with each other. About everything. Absolutely everything. From who can run faster, who can get a higher score on our midterms, to who can do the most pushups or situps. Everything. I don't remember when we started competing, or what it was about, but it was probably something stupid.

We've had many stupid competitions. Like the time we decided who could swim to the other island faster, me or him. Both of us almost died because apparently storms don't like to wait for people to get out of the water.

Kairi was so pissed at the two of us after that.

But our competitions weren't always bad. I mean, both Riku and I were top of our classes, and the best in sports because we were always trying to outdo each other. You know, people always think that I'm stupid, but I'm actually not.

I had a lot of trouble beating him most of the time. Sometimes I would win, but usually it would be because he was joking around with me and messed up on something, or complete luck. It didn't happen very often either. Kairi told me once that it shouldn't matter so much to me, but damn, it did. Just the way he would smirk at me pissed me off so much.

And of course, our longest running competition is really the only one that really mattered to me. Well, I shouldn't really call it a competition, because that's just kinda cruel and somewhat disgusting, but that's what it felt like sometimes.

It felt like it, because both of us are so into what we were fighting over, but it was horrible to call it a competition, because of what we _were_ fighting over.

Kairi.

The girl who moved to Destiny Island when I was five. Who I never seemed to be able to keep my eyes off of. I had always been so happy when she talked about us, and even happier when she started hanging out with us on a daily basis. I'd liked her for so long, it wasn't even funny.

But, so did Riku. Which caused problems. Lot's of problems. Lot's and lot's of problems. I didn't want him to win her, and he didn't want me to win, but we both knew that ultimately it was up to her. So in the end, both of us ended up taking out our frustration on the situation with other contests. Usually physical ones that involved us fighting somehow. Most of the time, I ended up with broken bones.

Riku ended up getting yelled at by Kairi.

I was getting sick of this, though. I was getting sick of all of it. I was getting sick of fighting all the time with my best friend because we both liked the same girl. I wanted it to be over with.

So I decided I was going to put an end to this.

By asking Kairi to the fall dance. If she said yes, then I knew I would have her. I would win, and Riku would have to back off. Maybe.

Which is why I was now walking her home, hoping to ask her right before she went inside. When Riku was busy dealing with his brothers and couldn't interrupt me. Because he would. He had before.

I wondered briefly why he never asked her out before, but that thought flew away when Kairi touched my arm.

"Sora? Are you listening to me?" she asked, looking concerned. I grinned and nodded, not wanting to worry her.

"Yup. Sorry. Got a little distracted, but I'm listening now," I replied. My hands moved to the back of my head, a position I loved to walk in. "So, what were you talking about? A school project, right?"

Kairi laughed and rolled her eyes. "Wow, Sora. Just wow. You know, you'd think that if I ask you to do this project with me you'd be jumping all over the idea. You normally do."

"Wait, you want me to do this project with you?" I asked. Kairi smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Of course. I would love to." I probably sounded a tad bit too excited, but I didn't care. Kairi almost always asked Selphie to work with her on projects like this. Or Refia. But not me. It was like a sign from somewhere that my plan would work.

Kairi laughed at my reaction, then stopped walking. I blinked, and realized that we were already at her house. I felt a little tinge of disappointment. "Alright, we'll work on it tomorrow after school, okay?"

"Yeah, sounds great," I said, showing a grin. I didn't want her to know exactly how psyched I was to be working with her. It not only meant that I would be able to spend time with her _alone, _and without Riku, but it also meant that she wanted to be near me. Which, of course, meant I had a good chance of getting a yes when I asked her to the dance.

Kairi smiled at me, blue eyes sparkling, before she reached for the gate that led to her house. I debated asking her then. It was a week before the dance, so now would be an excellent time to ask her, but I chickened out. Of course. Instead, I just watched her walk up to her front door, wishing that I could be more daring. Like Riku.

But, I had more chances after this to ask her out. Like tomorrow. I still had tomorrow, and probably the day after that, while we worked on our project. I could ask her to the dance, and maybe, just maybe, she would say yes.

With a heavy sigh, I walked down the path that led to my own house, wondering exactly what was going on there. Dad was away on business for a few days, so there was no doubt Mom wasn't home either. She usually wasn't. She didn't seem to like me that much for some weird reason. I couldn't ever figure out why.

It was then I wished that Riku _was_ here with me. He at least treated me like a human being who actually existed, unlike Mom. Plus, now that Kairi was at home, the two of us would be able to talk like normal people and not fight.

Most likely.

When I opened the door to my house, I called out to see if Mom was home. She didn't answer. I figured she was with some other guy or something similar to that. If only dad knew what she did when he was out of town...

So I got busy working on my homework, which was beyond boring. Math, science, history, art... all of these subjects were so simple. But I had to take them all throughout high school if I wanted to be a teacher, so I didn't really complain about it. Kairi and Riku would always talk about how annoying our classes were, but I just couldn't bring myself to join in on their rants. It would be like saying it was pointless to take these classes and there was no reason for me to become a teacher.

Of course, I didn't tell Kairi and Riku this. No doubt I would get made fun of. I would probably have to wait for a couple of years before I could tell the two of them that I wanted to teach elementary school.

It always sounded pathetic in my head when I thought about how I could tell them.

* * *

><p>Day 2<p>

"You and Kairi are working together on this project?" Riku asked me. We were eating lunch together, even though we technically weren't supposed to. For some reason our school decided that kids in different grades shouldn't have lunch in the same vicinity, which is why Riku and I always broke onto the roof and ate up there.

"Yup." I smirked over at him. "I'm going to be hanging out at her house for the next three days after school. _All afternoon_." His reaction was absolutely hysterical His hand clenched around the water bottle he was holding, and he looked away from me, eyes narrowed. He was not happy about me hanging out with Kairi.

"Well, the two of you have fun," he snapped before letting his water bottle drop to the ground. "I'm going back to class now."

"Whoa, Riku?" I called out after him. I hadn't been expecting him to get _this_ angry about the whole situation. I guess me hanging out with Kairi really did bug him. Did he really like her _that_ much? "Wait up!" I chased after him, leaving my half eaten lunch behind. Sure, I would probably get in trouble for this, but I didn't care.

I caught up to him quickly, as I managed to jump down the stairs, which he had walked down.

"What do you want?" he growled. "Come to rub this in my face some more?"

"Man, Riku, what's your problem? I was just kidding," I said grabbing at his arm. "Okay? You can hang out with us too, I guess. Work on your own homework, and-" Riku turned around suddenly, and grabbed my collar, glaring at me.

"You're a fucking idiot, Sora," Riku snapped at me. Before I could react, he let me go and walked away, looking extremely frustrated and annoyed. I hadn't realized that Riku liked Kairi this much. He was really upset about this whole thing, which was weird. He never seemed to care before. Maybe show off a little and tease me, but he never seemed to react in any way before.

This wasn't normal.

I wanted to call after him, but the bell ending lunch rang, and I knew I had to go to class. There would be no point in chasing Riku all the way to the junior's wing, then having to go back to my own. I would end up late to class if I did that.

But the rest of the day was boring as hell. The only good part of it was when I was talking to Kairi about our homework and project. And that was only a good ten minutes of the rest of the day. We sat all the way across the room from each other, so we almost never got to speak to each other. That always bugged me. I liked being near Kairi.

But as soon as class was out, I perked up again, especially when I saw Kairi walking over to my desk.

"Hey, you okay?" Kairi asked me as soon as she was in earshot. I grinned up at her and nodded, not sure why she was asking me this. She didn't look convinced. "Okay...," she continued. "You just seemed really frustrated after lunch. I wanted to talk to you about it, but there was too much going on before."

She was worried about me. That made me happy.

"Nah, I'm fine. Just a little argument with Riku that I didn't understand," I said laughing. "But I'm over it now. Ready to go?" I wanted to drop the subject.

Kairi smiled at me and nodded. "Yeah." Without another word, the two of us headed out of the room. We walked in silence for a while, me not knowing what to say, and Kairi staring off across the sea.

Our school was on top of the highest hill on Destiny Island. I'm not really sure how that happened, or why, but Kairi always loved walking home. She used to tell me that every day. Things were just so much better when she got to look out across the sea to our special place every day.

Eventually, I began to feel that way too.

When I walked with her, though, I didn't actually look out at the water. I ended up looking at her (unless Riku walked with us), just admiring her. I wondered if she could tell that I liked her. According to Arc and Refia, it was obvious.

I think they don't know what they're talking about, to be honest.

"Hey Sora," Kairi said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"What did you fight with Riku about this time?" She sounded sad, which was unusual. Even when Riku and I got into actual fist fights, she never sounded like that. It as more like she was angry at us.

But what could I tell her? We fought because Riku and I both liked her? Yeah, that would go over well. Knowing Kairi, she would hate it and tell us to stop ruining our friendship for her. I didn't want that, and I also didn't want her to know that I liked her. Not yet.

"Nothing big," I said. "I think Riku's just being emotional recently. He got mad at me for pretty much no reason." I wasn't exactly lying...

"Hm...," Kairi hummed before reaching over and grabbing my hand. I flushed and glanced down at it, not sure why she just did that. "Come on. The project's waiting. Let's go." She began pulling me down the hill, laughing.

I stumbled after her, not sure where the sudden energy and joy came from, but I wasn't exactly complaining. I liked Kairi's laugh, and I loved to see her happy.

It didn't take long for us to reach her house, which apparently we were going to be working on the project at, and I couldn't help but glance around to make sure Riku hadn't followed us. He would so do that just to annoy me.

Luckily he wasn't there, though, and I grinned.

Alone time with Kairi. This didn't happen as often as I liked.

* * *

><p>"Sora, stop being such a lazy bum and get up, we have work to do."<p>

I grinned up at Kairi, removing my arm from my eyes. We'd been working for the past hour on the project, and I'd given up on doing work with the excuse that I was tired. Really I was stalling. Kairi made it clear I wasn't allowed to leave until we to a certain place in the project.

So, I decided to stall so I could spend more time with her.

Genius, I know.

"Aw, come on. We can take a break, right? We have three more days to finish this thing, plus I don't have any more homework tonight. There's no need to be stressed."

Kairi shook her head, then got down on her knees, sitting right next to me. "This is why you always get beat by Riku on the midterms. Where do you think he is right now?" I frowned, not wanting to talk about Riku. "He's probably at home, studying, whether he has homework or not."

"No, it's because Riku cheats," I snapped, sitting up quickly. I hadn't meant to say that, nor did I mean to say it so harshly. It just kinda came out.

So much for being a genius.

Kairi stood up and backed away from me. "I know you and Riku are having issues right now, but that's no reason to accuse him of cheating. He works hard and deserves to beat you when it comes to school."

I'd never heard her say things like this to me. You'd think that it would calm me down, and I would realize just how upset she was that I said that, but nope. That's not me.

"Why are you so obsessed with Riku?" I asked, joining her in a standing position. I barely stood taller than her, and it kinda ruined the effect I wanted. Where did this anger come from? It didn't make sense. Kairi always talked about Riku. I shouldn't have expected any different. But today... maybe I just got sick of it.

"Because he's my friend."

"You act like he's your boyfriend or something." Kairi's face fell, and she backed away from me.

_Why the hell did I just say that? Oh shit. They probably are dating. That's why Riku's all pissed at me right now. Dammit! Why didn't I see this sooner?_

"Sora?" Kairi whispered. I jumped, but didn't say anything. "You're an idiot."

* * *

><p>Day 3<p>

Kairi wasn't speaking to me. She refused to. I left her house the previous evening without saying anything to her, and now she was returning the favor. Just my luck, right? I had to do something stupid right when I wanted to ask her out.

Great.

Two days left. That's all I had to make it up to Kairi and ask her to the dance, or I was going to lose her. Apparently, Riku found this to be amusing.

"So, you got in a fight with Kairi for a reason you don't get, she isn't talking to you, and you don't know how to make it up to her?" The glee in his voice annoyed me to no end. I don't even know why I was talking to him. He would just make fun of me, then swoop in and make Kairi feel better, then win.

"I didn't tell you so you could laugh at me. I told you so you could help me," I said, leaning against the wall of the roof.

"Why would I want to help you get back into Kairi's favor?"

"Because deep down you aren't the ass you pretend to be and you actually care if your best friends are fighting or not," I snapped. Even if I didn't end up dating Kairi (which I would hate), I still wanted to be friends with her. That couldn't happen if she refused to talk to me.

"You give me too much credit," Riku said, grinning. I wanted to punch him. But then the teachers would know we were up here. "If you want to know how to fix things with Kairi, figure it out on your own, lover boy."

"Okay, what the hell, Riku," I growled. "You've been acting so weird recently. Is there something you're not telling me? Did I do something to you?" I paused for a minute then asked the question I didn't really want an answer to. "Are you and Kairi actually dating and I just don't know about it?"

"Maybe." He smirked down at me, and this time I couldn't control myself.

My fist reacted before my mind really could, and the next thing I know, I'm standing up, in a fighting stance, glaring down at Riku who had his hand held up to a bleeding nose.

"What the fuck?" He stood up as well, glaring down at me. "Was that really necessary?"

"I dunno, was it?" That's about when Riku attacked me.

* * *

><p>Apparently the punishment for getting in a fight on the roof was suspension, which meant we weren't allowed to go to the fall dance. At first I was pissed off, but then I remembered just how bad the fight had been. I mean, we seriously beat the crap out of each other this time. It was bad enough to land both of us in the hospital.<p>

_That_ didn't happen to often. I mean, yeah, I would end up there sometimes, but Riku didn't. And he hadn't been holding back or anything. I could tell he went all out on me, trying to beat me senseless or something.

He did render me unconscious though, so technically he won the fight, which only annoyed me, and when I woke up, clearly remembering what happened, I wanted to seek Riku out and hit him over the head with something.

Only, that couldn't happen because when I woke up, I saw Kairi sitting in the chair next to my bed, reading a book with a soft expression on her face.

"Kairi?" I called out, not sure why she was there. "What are you-"

"Please don't talk right now," she said to me, a tremor in her voice. When I looked closer, I could see she wasn't actually calm, like I originally thought, but shaking madly, and her eyes were narrowed like she wanted to cry.

"But-"

"What happened?" Kairi asked. "Did Riku say something to you to piss you off? Were you taking your anger from last night out on him instead of just telling me why you're mad at me? And why did he retaliate? What's going on with you two?" Her voice cracked.

"I-"

"I said don't talk right now."

_Well then why are you asking me questions?_

"Sora, please stop fighting with Riku. I hate seeing you hurt like this." She slammed her book shut and stood up. "Every time you two fight you end up so injured, and it makes... it makes me feel like a bad friend for not even knowing why the two of you are fighting all the time. So please... just stop getting hurt."

She hated me getting hurt. She didn't even mention Riku. Why...

"Kairi-"

"I have to go now," she said, turning around quickly. "I'll see you later."

"Hey! Wait a second!" I scrambled out of bed and caught her arm before she could leave. Unfortunately, my body didn't really like me using it like this after just getting into a fight with Riku, and I ended up tripping.

The pain of hitting the ground caused me to stop breathing for a second, and I closed my eyes, trying to regain control of my lungs. Finally, air penetrated my lungs, and I managed to open my eyes, wondering what happened to Kairi. When I saw her, though, I froze completely.

She lay beneath me, hair sprawled out around her head, and blue eyes wide with surprise. It took a second, as I stared down at her, before she blushed, and looked away, though she made no attempts to push me off.

I felt every nerve in my body light on fire. I was laying on top of Kairi. The girl I've been in love with since forever.

It took a minute, but eventually I realized just what happened, and I jolted back, getting to my feet as swiftly as I could. I could only watch her push herself into a sitting position, eyes still downcast while I felt my face flush. Had that really just happened? Did I really just push her to the ground – accidentally, but still – and then end up laying on top of her?

Two stupid things in two days.

While not a record, it still didn't made me feel like crap.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen," I stuttered, not sure what to do. The happiness inside of me made everything worse. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" When she didn't respond, I held out my hand for her to take, but she completely ignored it, still blushing. That part confused me. Why would she be blushing? Did I embarrass her? Is there something I missed?

"It's fine," she eventually said. "I'm fine. I'm not hurt." She looked up at me, and all I could pay attention to was the sadness in her eyes.

_What the?_

Her soft hand slipping into mine, and held it tight, her smooth skin warm against mine. I pulled her gently to her feet, unable to tear my eyes away from the girl standing in front of me. She looked like a mess, but not in a bad way. Actually, her appearance made me feel uneasy... strange, like some kind of monster had taken over my body and was rampaging around inside it.

I found myself unable to breath.

"Sora?" she whispered. Her hand was still in mine, and she took a step toward me. "Sora, how do you... Do you..." Her blush turned into a deeper red. "I..." The hand I wasn't holding came up and touched my cheek gently, sending a warm jolt across my skin. I didn't know what she was doing, but apparently my body liked it.

"Kairi?" I asked quietly, not sure what to say. She wasn't making any sense, after all.

That's when she leaned up and kissed me. So gently... so softly. I didn't know what I should do. I barely knew what was going on. My body reacted on it's own though. I guess I kissed her back, pulling her closer with one hand and grabbing her chin with the other.

I didn't want her to leave. I didn't want her to move away. I just wanted to stand there and kiss her. Never stop.

But she pulled away, removing her hand from my cheek, and slipping the other one out of my grasp. She moved her head down, keeping me from holding her chin up anymore, and backed away, face clearly red.

I couldn't move.

"I-I-I really... I really have to go now," she muttered before bolting out of the room.

_She just kissed me. Kairi. Kissed me. On her own. Without prompting. Me. Not Riku. Me. What? When? Why? How?_ I shook my head, trying to clear it of these thoughts, then sat down on the bed behind me. _Kairi just kissed me. _That's the only thing that ran through my head. She kissed me, and made me feel something I'd never felt before.

Before I knew what I was doing, I grinned and lay back on my bed, no longer caring that I'd just gotten in a fight with Riku, or that I'd been suspended and couldn't go to the dance with Kairi.

_She kissed me._

* * *

><p>Day 4<p>

To my dad, suspension would probably have meant other punishments. To my mom, it meant... well, nothing at all. I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and not get in trouble for anything.

So I spent the entire time I was supposed to be in school out on the other island, just laying in the sand, hoping Riku wouldn't come to find me.

I couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the hospital. I kept reliving that moment when she pressed her lips to mine and kissed me. Every time I thought about her I got this feeling I'd never had before. A euphoric one, I guess.

Of course, that moment also brought about confusion. I tried to suppress it, but damn was it difficult. My entire mind and body wanted to just think about Kairi, but instead it brought thoughts like: did Kairi like me? Was that just a fluke, or would she do it again? Why did she run out like that? Why did it happen? What brought it on?

And so on. I wanted to ask her, but that required going to school. Which I couldn't do without getting in a lot of trouble. And she would never ditch. It's Kairi. Kairi's a goody two shoes, unlike her two best friends.

_Am I her best friend? Or am I something else to her?_

I sat up from the sand and smacked my forehead. This was _not_ the time to be thinking about that. I would just ask her later and then all would be solved.

Maybe.

"So, I heard you were getting the moves on last night with our female friend."

I groaned. I didn't want Riku to find me, and yet, here he was. Standing next to me, arms crossed, and a glare on his face. I raised my eyebrows, curious to know how he'd found out.

"Sorry dude, I don't kiss and tell."

"You just did."

"Did I?"

"Tch." Riku collapsed next to me, staring out to the sea as well. He seemed... I dunno, depressed maybe. I couldn't tell if he was just upset that I'd kissed Kairi, or if something else was bothering him. I didn't want to ask though.

"You're pathetic," he said after a moment. "Kissing Kairi in the hospital. I mean, how unromantic is that?"

"Hey, she kissed me, so you probably don't want to be saying that, because that means Kairi's unromantic."

Riku snorted. "Just proves my point," he muttered. Or, I think that's what he said. I couldn't really hear him through his mumble. Maybe he said something else and I just missed it. Or that's what he really said I was left a confused mess.

I prefer to think he said something else.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked.

"Maybe."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

"Because Kairi kissed me, not you."

"You're an idiot."

Okay, one time by the girl I really like, because I did something stupid is fine with me. But being called an idiot by the guy who didn't make sense for no reason was not. I clenched my fist, preparing to fight again, but remembered what Kairi said to me. How she didn't want me to fight with Riku anymore.

I released my fist and sighed, standing up.

"You need to start making sense," was all I said before I took off back to the dock.

* * *

><p>Despite being bandaged and bruised, I went to go meet Kairi by the school gate when school let out. I needed to talk to her, and it needed to happen soon. Really soon. Before what Riku said really got to me.<p>

She exited alone, not talking to anyone, head down slightly. I noticed her eyes were red and puffy, like she'd been crying, and I immediately felt guilty. Had I done something wrong?

Swallowing this feeling, I put on a smile and called out to her, waving with the arm that didn't hurt to move in such a way. She noticed me immediately, blushed, and looked away, grabbing the straps of her bag tightly. I wanted to laugh.

"Hey, have fun in school," I said, grabbing her hand when she got closer to me. I figured I might as well.

"Sora? Why are you-?" Kairi started to say, then stopped when she noticed how many kids were staring at us. "Sora..."

The way she said my name right there made me really happy, and I pulled her forward quickly.

"Hang on, I have to show you some place. Alright?" I needed to tell her something.

"Wait, can I-"

"Nope!" I didn't want her to speak. Anything she said could ruin this for me. "I need to do this, and I really don't want you to say anything until I'm done, okay?" The way she looked at me made me want to kiss her. Just lean forward and kiss her right then and there.

Only that could scare her away, and it's not what I wanted.

She followed me silently, eventually gripping my hand back, and I led her to the back of town; the other side of the island where we didn't go very often. It's not that it was dangerous there or anything, just it wasn't as pretty as the other side.

Rocks, rather than sand, littered the ground, so I guess in a way it was dangerous, but I still liked to go there. No one else did, so it made a great place to just sit and think.

Or a great place to tell Kairi something.

"Sora, why are we here?" Kairi asked when we stopped walking. I smirked back at her, then glanced out at the ocean. It's waves crashed against the rocks almost musically. Encouraging me, I guess. "We never come here, why do you-"

"This place is kinda special to me," I said, not caring that I interrupted her.

"Special?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

I turned around to face her, a serious look on my face. Well, as serious as I could be considering the situation. My entire body wanted me to express the giddy feeling I had, but this wasn't the time to do that. Nope. Later I could. Maybe. It all depended on what happened at that moment.

She was staring at me with wide, confused eyes. Her hair, as well as the uniform we were forced to wear, swayed in the gentle breeze coming off the sea, and for a second I lost my nerve. This always happened around her. I wanted to say these things to her, but then I would just look at her and it would all be gone. I couldn't bring myself to tell her anything.

"What do you want to tell me?" Her voice came out of nowhere, and the courage came back.

"This place is special to me," I said, walking closer to her, "because it's the place where I finally realized just how much I liked you." The moment I said those words, Kairi blushed and looked away from me. I, however, didn't feel embarrassed. Just relieved.

It'd been so long since I'd figured it out. Seven frikin years since I decided I liked Kairi as more than a friend, and I'd finally told her.

I don't know if I'm pathetic, or what.

"You like me?" Kairi whispered. "I... what am I supposed to..."

"Do you like me? Is that why you kissed me yesterday?" Her blush got redder, like the night before, and she nodded slightly. I couldn't help but grin, and I touched her face, turning her head so she faced me. The way she avoided my eyes confused me. I guessed she was just embarrassed, but I didn't care. I liked it when she blushed, I decided. She was so cute.

"Hey, you don't need to avoid my eyes," I said to her, leaning forward a little. A smile spread across her lips.

"I know."

"Then don't."

She looked at me finally, my relief reflecting in her expression. "Can I talk now?" I nodded. "I didn't think that you could like me still. I know you did when we were younger, like Riku, but I thought the two of you would have grown out of it, and they were just child crushes. I was okay with that. But then I got these feelings around you that I couldn't explain. I just wanted to be with you. Every time you got hurt, I felt hurt, and I worried about you."

I couldn't help myself, I leaned down and kissed her. Just quickly. Not even as long as the kiss in the hospital. Her eyes were wide when I pulled away, so I kissed her again, so happy to be hearing these words coming from her mouth.

"You don't have to explain it to me," I said to her. "I don't care." Before she could say anything, I pulled her into a hug, and felt her press her head against my shoulder.

"Sora, I think... I think I may love you."

"It's okay," I said quietly. "I think I might love you too."


	11. Chapter 11

**It's crappy. I don't care. This was a hard chapter for me because it deals with something that's never happened to me before, so I know little about it. **

**In any case, here's chapter 11, unbeta'd, so if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry. I know there are some in chapter ten.**

**Anyway, read, enjoy, review (thanks to my one reviewer! I'll PM you with a response maybe later. I'm tired right now), and I'll post another chapter soon. Maybe.**

**This chapter takes place right after Elephant ends. Well, about a month after. Maybe two.**

* * *

><p>Riku and I were going to get married.<p>

Kairi had the wedding plans in the bag, even though she worked as a nurse at a hospital in Destiny Island.

Sora seemed lost and confused about the whole thing.

Roxas stayed lost in his own little world, like normal, and seemed to be desperate to get on his dad's good side again (though what he did to get _off_ his dad's good side was something he and Axel wouldn't tell me).

And of course, Axel seemed determined to stop the wedding.

I was kind of on his side. Yes, I loved Riku – more than anything else in this world – but I really, _really _didn't want to have a huge ceremony like Kairi wanted. Riku said that he would be okay with whatever I wished for, and I didn't have the guts to tell Kairi that what she was planning was something that would embarrass the hell out of me. Basically I had to go through with this whole thing.

Which was not going to be fun in any way. I was just hoping it was going to be over with soon.

The only fun times I really had now when I was with Riku, and that didn't happen very often thanks to Mr. Strife who kept us at work almost all the time. Damn him. Of course, I still had nights with my fiance, which made everything a little bit better.

The night, the only time I hated, became my favorite part of the day. Well, normally.

This night, while I was _trying_ to spend time with Riku, I got a really annoying phone call. I had to take it, even though Riku begged me not to. He even took the cell from me and shoved me down on the bed to kiss me... distract me. The only thing I could do to stop him was threaten to knee him in the one place guys are most sensitive.

That made him get off me and give me my phone back, glaring. All I did was smirk at him and answer.

"Ellie Elliot," I said, trying my best not to laugh at the disgruntled expression on Riku's face.

_"Ellie? It's Aqua. I haven't talked to you in a while, huh?"_ I froze, immediately regretting my action. Sex with Riku sounded like a much better idea than talking to Aqua.

"Yeah, hey. It has been a while. I didn't think I would hear from you after last time," I said, closing my eyes. We hadn't exactly parted friends when she, Terra, and Ven had come to visit me. In fact, she declared that she never wanted to speak to me again, and that I was ridiculous for not trusting them.

Still oblivious as to why I didn't want anything to do with them.

_"Well, I can't stay mad at you," _she said, voice cheerful. _"I just want you to know that I thought about what happened, and the way things turned out between us, and I wanted to apologize for being so harsh. I understand that you don't want to be around Terra anymore, and because Ven and I are still friends with him you don't want to really talk to us either."_

Yeah. She had no idea what was going on.

"Everything okay?" Riku asked next to me, keeping his voice in a whisper. I shook my head, and Riku wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me against him protectively.

"So, you want to be friends again?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

_"Of course! I never want to fight again. In fact, as a kinda, peace offering, I'd like to invite you to dinner on Saturday. You, me, Ven, and Terra."_

"Aqua..."

_"I know, I know. You don't want to be near Terra, but please, just go along with this one, __okay? He really wants to see you. Apologize for what he did, to your face."_

"I don't think I can do this. I'm sorry. I'll have dinner with just you. Even you and Ven, but not Terra." The moment I said my ex-boyfriend's name, Riku's grip tightened, and he leaned his head against my shoulder comfortingly. I kissed the top of his head as Aqua answered me.

_"Please? Just give him a chance. He's... He has this obsession with you, Ellie, and his psychiatrist thinks it would be good for you to come and talk to him, so-"_

"So you just want me to come so I can help Terra? Figures," I muttered.

_"What? No! I want to be friends with you again! Okay? I was just hoping that maybe you could make peace with Terra, so that we can all be friends again without any kind of issue."_ She sounded desperate. Pleading with me.

"Why?"

_"Ellie, we were friends for four years. I don't want that to just go away."_

"Why would Terra be obsessed with me? Huh? He tried to kill me." There were tears in my eyes, despite the fact that I was trying to hold them in. When she came to visit me that time when Axel was in the hospital, it was to beg me to move back with them and help take care of Terra. That's why he had been there as well. To help her talk to me about it it.

When I started crying before, when talking to Riku, it was mostly because I was processing what Aqua had said to me.

"Ellie, I think you should hang up the phone now," Riku said, grabbing my wrist, but I pushed him away. I wanted to hear what Aqua had to say.

_"I don't know exactly. His psychiatrist says it's most likely because you were the center of his affection when he broke down, his mind is unable to forget those feelings."_ There was something to her voice. Something sad... something longing. _"Please, Ellie."_

"Where and what time?" I had to give in. There was something more to those three... to Ven, Aqua, and Terra I clearly didn't know about. Something that I couldn't just leave alone. Aqua seemed different every time I talked to her. More stressed. More upset. More depressed. I couldn't just let her live like that. The way she pleaded with me. It was almost as if she wanted me to save her from whatever was going on.

_"You remember my address, right? Well, there, at six. Can you do that?"_ I told her that I could, despite Riku's protest. Then I hung up the phone, feeling both determined, and scared.

"Ellie? What the hell? You're going to see her? Them? After what they've done to you?" He grabbed the phone from my hand and tossed it on the bed before he pushed me down and pulled up my shirt. "They hurt you," he muttered, fingers trailing one of my remaining scars. I looked away from him, eyes closing.

He was right.

But he was also wrong.

"I have to." He released my shirt before cupping my face, turning my head to face him. "I have to help her."

"No you don't," he told me. "You don't have to do anything for them. Okay?"

I really wished he had been right. "Yes I do." My answer clearly didn't make him happy, but he kissed me, and for the rest of the evening, didn't let me talk.

* * *

><p>He'd been against me going to dinner with them the entire time. For the rest of the week, Riku tried to convince me that this wasn't going to end well, but I just ignored him. Both Axel and Roxas noticed the tension, and both tried to talk to me about it. They probably tried to talk to Riku too, but there was no way that would go over well. Axel I told to fuck off. Roxas I told to go fuck Axel.<p>

Neither of them had been happy with me.

But I didn't care. The two of them could just leave me alone. That would be the best thing. Leave me alone, and allow me to go have dinner with my old friends.

Which is why I was now standing, alone, on Aqua's front porch about to knock on her door. I took a deep breath, remembering Riku's words before I left the apartment.

He'd pulled me into a hug, and whispered, _"If anything, and I mean _anything_ happens, you tell me, and I'll fucking kill them."_

It was nice to know that there was someone out there who actually cared about me. Who loved me enough to want to protect me. Even if he was being completely irrational. I was just going to have dinner with three people I'd been friends with in high school. Nothing else.

So I knocked on the door, taking a deep breath. Riku was wrong. This was not going to go wrong.

And yet it did, the moment the door opened because Terra stood there smiling.

"Hey Ellie," he said, reaching and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I flinched, but allowed him to pull me inside. "I heard you got engaged." That was definitely not the first conversation I wanted to have with Terra. I just nodded. "To who?"

I glanced over at him, feeling completely uncomfortable.

"The man you met a year ago. Riku," I replied. I pulled away from him and looked around. "Where are Aqua and Ven? There's supposed to be here."

"But they're not," was all Terra said. He grabbed my shoulders again and steered me into the kitchen, where a table set for two sat. I felt my heart sink. Aqua had lied to me. She'd said that it would be the four of us. She assured me that she and Ven would be here as well, and that they wouldn't leave me alone with Terra. I didn't understand why.

"Look, I don't think I should stay, alright?" I tried to back away again. But Terra was persistent. As always. "Please, I want to go home now. This was a mistake, and-"

"I won't hurt you," he said quietly. Almost too quietly. It made me shudder. "I hurt you before, but I won't again, I promise." His voice was so fucking quiet. It wasn't natural. "Now please? Won't you eat dinner with me tonight?"

I wanted to say no. I really wanted to say no.

"Okay."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a grin spread across Terra's face, and he led me to one of the chairs. I sad down silently. It was the only thing I could do.

Dinner wasn't that bad, I guess. Terra had apparently learned to cook in the past few years. I guess being under house arrest gives a person a lot of time to do things that they originally found ridiculous and boring. The meal wasn't that bad, surprisingly. But I could barely taste it anyway. I couldn't taste anything during the meal. I was too nervous. I had enough trouble getting the food down my throat anyway.

But we had a few nice conversations. Terra didn't seem to be interested in what my life was like. He kept starting random conversations about what was going on with other people that I only knew about because they all seemed to be connected to Mr. Strife in some way. Of course, most famous people were connected to Mr. Strife in some way, and I knew all of them.

I guess there's one good thing about being the personal lawyer for the richest guy in the world.

Then the conversation took a turn for the worst.

"When did you get engaged?" I didn't want him to bring that subject up again. I'd even taken my engagement ring off before I left the house so none of them talked about it. I didn't even know how he'd figured it out.

"Christmas. Why? How did you know?"

"Two months ago? Huh."

"How did you know?" I asked again, my tone more serious this time.

Terra grinned. "Ven was bored and did a search on you. Found out that you applied for a marriage license. Only reason to do that is if you're going to get married, which means you're engaged." Ven had always been notorious for hacking into things that he should stay out of. I felt the need to smack him.

"Oh. Well, it's not that important, so-"

"Why are you getting married?"

I froze. He sounded so pathetic. He was staring at me intensely, like he had the night of the dance when he first kissed me. I felt the blood drain from my face, and I lay my fork on the table so that I didn't drop it.

"Because I love Riku," I stuttered. "And he loves me." Terra didn't seem happy with my answer. He looked away from me, eyes narrowed, and practically threw his fork and knife onto his plate. I flinched when he did this, and tensed, in case I needed to run away.

Terra stood up suddenly and started over towards me, so I instinctively jumped up and backed away. "You guys love each other, huh? And how do you know that? You guys haven't known each other for very long."

"We've been dating for six years. That's a long time." I backed away, making sure that I was heading toward the door.

"So, he's "loved' you for six years, huh?" Terra growled. "Only six years. And you're gonna marry him." I did not like where this was going. Especially not when he jumped forward suddenly and grabbed me. I didn't have time to move away. "But I've loved you for a lot longer than that, and you do everything in your power to avoid me."

"Riku didn't try to kill me."

"I didn't either."

I couldn't help myself.

I slapped him.

He couldn't be serious. He didn't just tell me that he didn't try and kill me. There was no way he was _that_ stupid.

But I shouldn't have hit him, because it only served to anger him more. Before I knew what was going on, he reached forward and grabbed me around the waist, picked me up, and threw me over his shoulder. I struggled to get down, but it was no use. I should have known that. Even when I was athletic, Terra had always been stronger than I. Always. Which was how he had been able to hurt me so badly.

Next thing I know, I was tossed onto a bed, and Terra climbed on top of me.

I didn't know what was going on.

But I was so damn terrified.

"I didn't try and kill you, Ellie. I was just trying to get you to a better place." His hands wrapped around my wrists and he shoved them next to my head, trapping me against the bed. "They told me that you weren't happy in this world, and that if I loved you, I would do the right thing and send you to where your parents were. I didn't want to do it, but they made me. They told me I had to." That's when he kissed me. I couldn't move. I could just sit there as his mouth pressed against mine and wait for it to be over with.

"I wanted you to be happy. I loved you so much. I always have. When the doctors put me on the medicines, and the voices went away, I realized just how much I hurt you, and because I hurt you, you didn't want to be around me." I couldn't look at him. I could only blink back tears. "And that's what I figured out that you loved me. You still love me, even now, but you won't admit it to yourself or anyone because you were scared."

"No," I whispered, trying to get away from him. Everything he was saying was a delusional lie. He didn't know what he was talking about at all.

"I'll prove it to you. I'll prove that you love me. You don't love that Riku guy. He's not good enough for you." I wanted to scream at him that Riku _was_ good enough for me. Better. He was perfect, and the one I loved, and the one I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. But I was too scared.

Too terrified by what was going on to say anything more.

He seemed to be so happy as he stripped me from my dress, even when he saw the scars he'd given me. I didn't fight him. I couldn't. My body wouldn't respond. I just sat there, completely limp, tears streaming down my face, and I wondered how Aqua could do this to me.

She'd set me up. She was the one who invited me to dinner, and then left me alone with Terra. It was possible that Ven didn't even know about the whole thing, but if he did, then this was his fault too. They both knew that Terra was unstable. They lived with him. And Aqua had even told me earlier that week about Terra's messed up obsession with me.

Was this some kind of punishment?

Eventually the tears stopped coming, but I couldn't do anything to stop him. The only thing I was able to do, was close my eyes and imagine I was with Riku. Imagine that this wasn't really happening.

I was somewhere else.

And then it was over. I shuddered slightly as Terra's hands brushed against my face, and I dared look at him.

"See, I told you you loved me," he said, smiling. Couldn't he see that I was crying? That my face was blank? That I wasn't responding to anything he was doing or saying? "Just like I love you." He leaned down and kissed my tear stained face.

Finally, my body began to work again. I slowly sat up and pushed him away from me, saying, "I have to go." Terra grinned, like he was completely certain of something. He found my clothes and gave them to me, allowing me space to get dressed. I don't really know how I managed to keep my hands from shaking long enough to slip on my clothing, but somehow I did it.

When I was done, Terra walked me to the door, still smiling. He handed me my purse, which had my keys and cell phone in it, before saying good bye.

And he kissed me again. Gently, this time.

"I'll see you soon," he muttered against my lips. I didn't have a response for him. I just walked out the door and didn't look back.

The drive home... I don't remember it. I remember flashing lights, and traffic, but that's about it. I was abnormally calm. I was so fucking calm. There were no thoughts in my head. My body was moving on it's own – running on autopilot.

And then I got home.

That was when what happened really dawned on me. Emotions rushed through my body so quickly that I couldn't control the violent shudder that ran through every limb. The keys in my hands... the ones I had been about to use to get inside dropped from my hands and landed on the ground below me. I sank to my knees, and tried to grab them, but I couldn't. My hands were shaking to much. Every inch of my skin felt like there was something crawling on it.

The door opened suddenly, flooding me with light from inside, and I heard Riku's voice calling my name.

"Ellie? What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?"

At the sound of his concerned voice, my eyes widened. I could have stopped it. I should have been able to stop him from doing that to me. I felt so dirty inside. So disgusting. Just hearing how much Riku was worried about me made my stomach turn with hatred for myself. This was all my fault.

I was so filthy.

"I'm sorry...," I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself. I should have listened to him. I shouldn't have gone there.

"Ellie, look at me," Riku commanded, and I had to listen. I had to look up at him. All I could see were accusing eyes. They knew what happened. They hated me for it. They didn't want me to be there. So when his hand reached out to touch me, I flinched away.

At first there was nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing. I knew he hated me. He probably never wanted to see me again. It would be appropriate, of course. I'd had sex with another guy. While engaged to Riku. It's just not right, and I wouldn't blame or hate him if he called off the wedding and told me never to come near him again.

That would be a good punishment for me.

But suddenly he was picking me up. I gasped and immediately tried to push him away, just as he held me close to him, and whispered to me; "I'm not going to hurt you."

Just like what Terra said. Only, with Riku, I felt like I could believe it. I knew that he wasn't lying to me. He wasn't going to do anything to me that I didn't want. He would listen to me.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" He asked me. There was no way I would be able to say it. Not to him.

So instead, I just let him carry me inside.

* * *

><p>I remember falling asleep to Riku's comforting voice. That was pretty much all I remembered after he took me inside. I think I heard him call someone after he placed me on our bed, but that memory was too fuzzy for me to make out who he was talking to. Axel maybe? But I didn't know why he would call him. The two of them would probably forever hate each other.<p>

When I finally woke up, eyes fluttering open, he was sitting next to me, not looking in my direction. Surprisingly, an unlit cigarette hung in his mouth.

"I thought you gave up smoking," I managed to say, the events of the previous night still unclear. There was a pounding in my head, and a pain in the lower half of my body, which was keeping me from really thinking straight.

It'd been years since the last time I'd seen Riku smoke. I didn't even know he still owned anything related to it. Even back when he did, it was only when something really stressed him out, or pissed him off. Which rarely happened. Something about last night... maybe that's what pissed him off.

If only I could remember what it was.

After a minute he turned to look at me, then pulled that stupid thing out of his mouth and held it out in front of him, showing the end to me. "It's not lit, is it?" When he said that, I figured something like this would just be a habit for him. I think one time he told me the motion of having a cigarette in his hands helped calm him down some times.

"No, I guess it's not," I said before pausing. "Riku... I... I don't... I don't remember. What happened last night?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," he growled. I hadn't heard him this mad in a long time. "You came home late, you were shaking like mad, you flinched away from me, and then you just shut down and fell asleep. So I kind of want to know: what the fuck did Terra do to you?"

_Terra?_

That's when everything came crashing down on me. Every moment of that night with Terra; every inch of my body that he touched, seemed to attack me. I immediately back away from Riku, feeling completely embarrassed, and I ended up falling out of bed.

"Ellie?" Riku seemed surprised by my actions, and he leaned over to my side of the bed, looking confused.  
>"I'm sorry," I gasped, feeling the disgust come back. I'd really let him comfort me last night after what I did. It was sick. "I'm so sorry." Riku slid off the bed and walked over to me. I couldn't look into his eyes as he bent down to my level. It was too much.<p>

"Why do you keep apologizing to me. You were saying "sorry,' in your sleep too. _What happened_?" he asked, watching me intensely. But he didn't touch me. Which was weird for him.

"I...," I stuttered, not sure what to say. I couldn't tell him. It would be best if I made something up. That way he wouldn't be hurt. Right? "I don't..."

"Did he hurt you?" I couldn't answer no, and I couldn't answer yes. "He hurt you? That mother fucker! What did he do? Do you need to go to the hospital? Where are you hurt?" This time Riku did touch me. He gripped my arm and lifted me off the ground, then held me an arm's length away. I was crying again. "Tell me! I need to know where he hurt you. Just tell me what happened so I know what I need to do. Did he draw blood?"

"No." I finally found my voice somewhere, but it didn't sound like me. It sounded like some pathetic, scared little girl. That couldn't be me, right? "He didn't... He just..."

"I won't hate you," he said suddenly. I looked into his eyes. "I don't care what happened. I won't hate you, okay?" He sounded scared.

"I should have been able to stop him," I said quietly after he'd pulled me into a hug. "I should have fought harder, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't let me. I'm sorry."

"What happened?"

What could I do? He wouldn't let me go. There was no excuse I could make without other proof; not after the way I'd acted last night. Too much had already been spilled by my actions for Riku to just believe anything.

"You promised me that you would tell me everything. Please don't lie to me."

So I told him. I started with how it was just Terra there, and continued on to how they knew I was engaged, that we ate dinner, then Terra began acting strange when he brought Riku up, and finally, how he was convinced that I loved him still, and there was only one way to prove it to me. When I got to that part, Riku's arms tightened around my body, and he cursed under his breath.

Then, when my story was done, he didn't say anything for a minute. He just held me there like it was the most normal thing in the world to do. I regretted telling him as soon as I was done, because now he would hate me. He said he wouldn't, but he would. I knew it.

"I'm sorry," I muttered again before pushing away. "I should have been able to stop him."

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this," Riku snapped, glaring. "It's not your fault. Got it? You went there thinking that you would be having dinner with your three friends from high school, and ended up being..." He trailed off, clearly not wanting to say that word. "All of this is their fault. And trust me; they're not going to get away with this."

"But it _is_ my fault. I'm the one who went there, and the one who didn't stop him, and the one who-" He shut me up with a kiss. At first I struggled to get away from him, a bubble of fear rising in the pit of my stomach, but after a moment, I realized that this was a different kiss than Terra's. It wasn't forceful. It wasn't trying to convince me of anything. It was just my fiance trying to calm me down.

My fiance.

Who didn't hate me.

I dissolved into tears and kissed him back.

* * *

><p>"Ellie?" He was holding me close to him, arms wrapped protectively around my waist.<p>

"Yeah?"

"Feel any better?"

"Yeah." And I did. It was late Sunday evening, and the two of us had done nothing all day. We'd just sat in bed, sometimes talking, sometimes kissing, sometimes just sitting there in silence. There was still this feeling I couldn't shake off; one that made me want to throw up. Even though Riku had almost completely convinced me that this wasn't my fault, I couldn't help but think it might be. I should have left as soon as Terra told me Ven and Aqua weren't there.

No, I shouldn't have gone.

Riku opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then closed it again quickly. I glanced up at him, confused. It wasn't like him to not speak his mind.

"You okay?" I asked, still half sure that he was going to get up and leave any second now.

He smiled down at me and nodded. "Yeah. I was just toying with an idea. But I don't know if you'll go for it."

"What is it?"

"Well..." He sighed. "I really want to marry you. Right now. I don't want to wait. I want you to be completely mine so that no other guy will touch you again." And he thought that I wouldn't go for that? Immediately all thoughts of him leaving me vanished and I tackled him, pushing him on the bed.

After a moment of kissing him, I pulled away and whispered, "I think that's the best idea you've ever had."

"Kairi's going to be pissed at us."

"Kairi can bite me."

He laughed and pulled my head down to kiss me again. "Tomorrow then?"

"Do I really have to wait that long?"

"Unfortunately." We both laughed. It felt good to laugh. Like there was nothing wrong. Like I hadn't just been raped by my psychotic ex. Like we weren't going to be killed by Kairi when she found out that her wedding plans were now pointless. Like I didn't have to go and confront my old friends.

I liked that feeling.

* * *

><p>No one knew yet. Just Riku and I did. And I kind of liked it like that. No one could tell me we'd made a mistake, and that it would be better to have an actual ceremony for the two of us getting married. I would just call them idiots, but it would still be annoying.<p>

Axel would probably hate Riku even more now, which was unfortunate, because the two of them could probably be really good friends if they stopped being stupid. Roxas wouldn't have a reaction. Kairi would kill me. Sora would probably just tell Riku to watch out for Kairi and that would be the end of it.

And then there were the three people I needed to talk to. I wondered how they would react when they found out I was married.

"W-What are you doing here?" Aqua asked when she opened the door. I didn't answer. "You should have called me before you came. I would have-"

"I haven't come to stay," I snapped, interrupting her. "I came here to tell you something." I paused as her face fell a little bit. Her eyes traveled to my left hand. "Never, and I mean _never_, try to talk to me again." Without another word, I turned heel and walked away from her, heading towards Riku, who was leaning against his car.

I was almost to him when I heard Terra call out my name. "Ellie! Wait a minute, where are you going?" I flinched at the sound of his voice, and turned around to face him, but all I saw was Riku's back. He'd moved so fast that I didn't even notice him move away from the car. Next thing I know, Terra's falling onto his back, Aqua's gasping, and Riku's arms are wrapped around me.

"Next time you touch my _wife,_" he spat, "you're going to get more than just a punch in the face." Rubbing his cheek, Terra looked at me with wide, confused eyes.

"Wife?" he muttered. "Ellie, what's he talking about? He's just being delusional, right?"

"You're the one who's delusional," Riku said before I could say anything. "Thinking that Ellie loves you... it's ridiculous. Next time, before you go and rape someone, maybe listen to what they're saying."

I heard Aqua gasp again, and I sneaked a look at her. She was staring, horrified, at Terra, then glanced up at me. There was an apologetic look on her face. It made me feel sick.

"I didn't rape her! She-"

"Don't assume what I want, Terra," I whispered, loud enough for him to hear.

No one said anything as Riku led me back to the car, glaring behind him. These three people were ridiculous. I couldn't understand how I could have become friends with them. Then again, if I'd known that Terra would have a psychotic break, I wouldn't have talked to them that much. I probably would have just gone through high school alone.

Then again, I probably wouldn't have started going out with Riku. He wouldn't have seen the pain in me, and wanted to help me.

I guess that I have some things to be thankful for.

As I climbed into the car, I saw Ven run up to the scene, looking panicked. I felt a little bad that I didn't want to talk to him either. He was probably the only one of the three who had nothing to do with anything. Of course, he was also the naïve one who thought that everything could just go back to the way they were.

I wanted nothing to do with any of them anymore.

"Hey Ellie?" Riku asked as we drove away. "Think we should go tell Axel now?" At his words, all my anxiety vanished, and I laughed.

"Probably. You know he's going to kill you, right?"

"Unfortunately. He's worse than your dad, I swear." Riku muttered something else under his breath, and I just shook my head. My father just congratulated the two of us and went on with his life, saying he couldn't wait for the wedding. Axel, on the other hand...

"Ellie," Riku said again. I turned to him, surprised when he pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"Yeah?"

As soon as this word left my mouth he leaned over and kissed me, then whispered, "I love you."

A chill of pleasure ran through my body at his words, and I kissed him back.

"I love you too."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, since none of these characters are mentioned really again, I'll explain what happened here, and what's been going on with Terra, Aqua, and Ven.<strong>

**Terra's been obsessed with Ellie for the reasons mentioned in the story, but he's been taking his frustrations out on Aqua both with slight physical and sexual abuse. Aqua doesn't know what to do, and she's been going to Ven for help and comfort, and the two of them have a sexual relationship. Aqua, getting sick of it, decides to try and get Ellie back in their lives. On the day Ellie's supposed to have dinner with them, Aqua goes to Ven's apartment to get him, but he decides they shouldn't go and won't let her leave. He thinks Ellie and Terra will work something out on their own.**

**He calls Terra and tells him that the two of them won't be at dinner, and just to set the table for two. When Aqua finally does get home, Terra is extremely happy, leaves her alone, and basically tells her Ellie's not going to get married.**

**So, yeah. That's their story.**

**After this, Ellie has a pregnancy scare and thinks Terra got her pregnant, but turns out her period's just late. That's pretty much the end of Terra because he dies in an accident a few years after Phoe is born. Ven, on the other hand, has more dealings with the family because of something that I won't say so I don't give anything away :P**

**Yes, I know. A lot of things happen to Ellie. But after she gets to come back and live with Riku, pretty much nothing happens to them. Something happens to Phoe and Seitaro, but that'll be mentioned later.**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. If I hadn't just taken my sleeping medicine, I'd probably say more. But oh well.**

**Don't forget to review!**

**~Sunechirei**


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